Monday, January 25, 2010

Red poppies

This morning, I chatted with JN, one of the foremost Tibetan English writer and political commentator on Tibet issue. I was to ask him his view and opinion on the ongoing Tibetan delegations' planned talk with Chinese contemporary. JN's view and stand is pretty clear, he contends that no negotiation is taking place at all. The Chinese side's arrogant attitude and Tibetan delegate's begging mentality is a gulf too big to be bridged. I don’t necessarily agree with JN's argument, but giving his immense research, reading and knowledge on the issue of Tibet, he is a voice to be listened and paid heed to at the least. He gave an analogy of the present negotiation status as to that of a cat playing with a maimed mouse. The robust, evil and playful cat played game with this crippling mouse. Letting go for a while, and then catch it, and then again letting it go and recatch. It induces a kind of illusionary optimism for the dying mouse and in reality the victim had no way out.





We conversed on a wide range of topic and as anyone can expect, JN is never short of things to say. I could have asked him too about his viewpoint and understanding of the English Translation of "Red Poppies".

It is a fascinating account of the life of Tibetan chieftains in the early 1930s. The author Alai has painted the Tibetan society of that age with much realism and retribution. "Red poppies" is undoubtedly a master stroke that depicts the serenity, sensuality and the subjects of the Tibetan chieftain with minute details. Alai animated the characters of his novel and brought them to life on the pages of his masterpiece. As a Tibetan author, he has done justice to the history of the Tibetan people and its society by being honest. His depiction of the inequality among Tibetan masses, and the existence of class and clans, where the underlings were remained at disadvantage, and the chieftains indulge in a life of luxury, was to some extend a reality.



However, I doubted his characterization of the servants and slaves, who were treated not less than an animals. A Society, where the chieftain, were the benevolent rulers and laws, that dictates everything from execution to animalism of a servant's minor offence. As every writer take the liberty of unimaginable imagination, Alai too has conjured up the early Tibetan society, as a feudal dark society of a middle ages. One can reasonably doubt if the writer has not come under the influence of Chinese propaganda that paints the Tibetan society as such. This is a China's lamed justification of their so called the liberation of Tibetans or the emancipation of hundreds of Tibetan serfs, as the Chinese government propagate even today. Since I have not personally heard such a backward system our ancestors followed, and practiced, I am intrigued to learn the fact. When I raised my question to Robert Bernett at ICT, about how much the Tibetan society is ridden with the serfdom and to what extend it was a truth. I didn’t get a satisfactory response from him; he played down the significance of this question by saying that we should leave aside the debate of this, as every society has a bright and dark side to it. While he also acknowledges that it is not a legitimate justification of the Chinese occupation of another land, because of the society was backward.

For me, if the Tibetan society was like what the Film "Jampa" portrayed as true, then I would have desired change, and if that change was brought about by the Chinese, than they should be applauded instead of alleging him as invaders. The Chinese government has transformed the Tibetan society, which the Tibetan people themselves were incapable of. It is obvious in today's Tibetan society, there are absolutely no slaves and serfs, but the Chinese claim of improving Tibetan’s livelihood, and that they brought happiness to them unknown before, was also a fiction.



Getting back to my topic, I salute to the author's audacity of sincerity and truthfulness that the novel depicts.

Poppies were grown in Tibetan land, which were introduced by the Chinese and also the syphilis were spread and inflicted to Tibetan adulteress by Chinese prostitutes. The novel clearly stated that Tibet and China was two separate countries ruled by different rulers, till when the red army’s marched in a bombarded the entire fortress. The climax of the novel has a political connotation. This is a historical novel, very entertaining and informative. This is account of fiction, but infused with some historical facts.



The following synopsis summed up the novel "Ambitious, beautifully told, filled with intriguing characters, panoramic setting and high drama. Red poppies open a window on a unique region of pre-occupation Tibet, dispelling many of the popular myths about a uniformly pacifistic society peopled by devout worshippers. ... This novel is about a feudal society in full, hothouse bloom. Lavish, sensual life styles, passionate romance, and bloody feuds take center stage in a sweeping historical tale...

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