THE TRAIN TO TIBET
So China is having things its way in Tibet as the train from China to Tibet starts chugging on the tracks from July. No surprises that the tickets for the inaugural journey are already sold out.
Tibet, like it is for many people, has always been a fascination to me. Its people, Buddhism, landscape, the magical and mysterious aura that surrounds the name ‘Tibet’ has always drawn me into it. Desire remains in me to wander around this mystical land. I have been reading about all that China is doing to Tibet – like exploiting its people, modernizing Tibet, driving native Chinese into the highlands and attempting to exterminate Buddhism.
Tibet may or may not need trains, I don’t know. To be fair, we can’t expect Tibet to remain without the benefits and comforts of modern technology. But I sincerely hope that the unique Tibetan culture remains and survives the repressing Chinese. I hope that many pristine regions of Tibet that have so far remained excluded from the perils of modernization remain pristine, even when Tibet wakes up to the comforts of modern living. I hope that sacred and mystical regions of Tibet like the Mansarovar and Mt Kailash remain sacred and mystical. And I wish Tibet finds its freedom and once again be a land governed by its own people, catering the world with its timeless spiritual and traditional knowledge.