From Tibet to Toronto

MaschataDiop

by MaschataDiop

Story

She still wears it around her neck. The thin gold chain with the fat kitten pendant that I gave her more than ten years ago. Her son plays with it. “He is eight months and three days,” she says in an Indian-Tibetan accent. And smiles.

Paldon’s mother tongue is not English, but Tibetan. She is one of nine children of a semi-nomadic family from Kham province. Paldon does not know exactly when she was born. The parents have not registered the birth dates of their children. In 2003, they sent Paldon and her youngest brother to India. Thinlay suffers from an eye disease and is at risk of going blind. The family hopes for successful treatment in Dharamsala, where the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, has his seat in exile.

The father chooses the strongest and fastest horses from his herd. On them, Paldon and Thinlay ride for a day through the steppe until they reach a passable road. From there they travel by truck to the Tibetan capital Lhasa, then by many different vehicles across Nepal to northern India. The older sister who has accompanied them this far returns home. Paldon is about 16 at the time, Thinlay 14. They are taken into the Tibetan-run children’s village Suja, 40 km from Dharamsala. Now they have to learn to read and write. Paldon falls ill with TB. Misses many school lessons.

Thinlay’s glaucoma is treated, but no one wants him on the football team. His vision steadily narrows, but he still studies for school. Paldon does not manage to catch up on the lessons she has missed due to her illness. With a heavy heart, she decides to train as a tailor. Thinlay passes the matriculation examination and applies to university. Then a call from Tibet: The mother is seriously ill. As the youngest in the family, Thinlay sees it as his duty to support his elderly father in caring for his mother. He travels home to his parents. Paldon stays in India. She can barely survive on her meagre wages, hardly sending any money home. Nevertheless, she manages to emigrate to Canada.

She now lives in Toronto. We keep in touch via the internet. Her son Tenzin waves to me. In front of the windows are red and gold tangkas, Tibetan scroll paintings. “Thinlay is married,” Paldon tells me. “His son is one year and four months old. He has no job, but his wife earns well as a teacher. He is now a househusband and takes care of the child. The mother died, but the father is doing well.

Paldon met her husband in Toronto. Gyaltso also comes from Tibet. He works as a cook, twelve hours a day, six days a week. The pay is low, but the boss is nice, says Paldon.

She is my goddaughter. I would like to hear her laugh again – abruptly. Like during our trips together in India. To visit her in Canada. There is a lockdown in Toronto, too.

© MaschataDiop 2021-05-08

Hashtags