Dear India, Thank You for Being a Reliable Friend Writes a Tibetan

A Tibetan refugee’s heartfelt Letter to India about how grateful she is for the friend that she found in India.

Karma Zomkyi is a Tibetan refugee who has lived in India all her life. This Republic Day, she joins The Quint’s Letter To India initiative to tell Indians how wonderful it is to be in India.

Zomkyi also shares stories from her childhood about the insecurities she had as a refugee in India. Read on.

My beloved India,

I was born with the letter “R” on my forehead and I always feel terrible about it. I was lost, trying to find myself. Tibet lost its freedom in the year 1957 and it makes me so angry. I feel that I have lost my identity since the Chinese government started spreading their “unforgivable tremor” in Tibet. It almost killed my identity. It was hopeless!

I was not born in Tibet. I was born in Sikkim. My entire family was born in India and it gives me immense pleasure to thank the Indian government for providing us shelter. Your generosity and your assistance have helped Tibetan people find their lost identity and live a new life.

To tell you the truth, my childhood has always centred around India. When I was a child, I always felt very odd being around them. No offense please. It was actually very “bizarre”.

Being around people you don’t even know can be odd and so I would ask myself, “Who are these aliens?” There was a time when I used to hide myself behind my parents when Indian friends visited us. I would actually get freaked out.

I never knew where I belonged because my parents never told me. They just told me that I am a part of this country and I believed them. When I grew up, I came to know that my country was long gone and I was a refugee in India. It gave me the chills and I was perplexed. It feels peculiar when you come to know the truth about yourself. Frankly, I don’t think my parents knew that I was really horrified after coming to know that I am a refugee. I always hide my emotions.

Now, after a decade, I feel this is the perfect time to tell India that I am truly very grateful to you. I am so fortunate to have a friend like India and I am very happy to tell India that I have lots of Indian friends who I can trust.

Some of them are from the north-east and some of them are from north India as well as south India. All citizens of Tibet are proud to tell India that we are blessed to have a friend like you and we would like to say “Thukjhe chenang” (Thank You in Tibetan) for your support, love and blessings!”

With love,

Your everlasting pal, Karma Zomkyi​

 

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