A play that examines the Tibetan community's commitment to peace amid unrest

In November 2006 Lhakpa Tsering thethen president of the Tibetan Youth Congressrsquo Bengaluru Chapter found himself in front of Mumbairsquos Taj Mahal Palace Hu Jintao who was the Chinese president at the time was in town The Tibetan student mdash who fled his homeland at the age of nine mdash had made his way to Mumbai with a band of protesters but couldnrsquot do much from their designated protest spot at August Kranti Maidan ldquoThousands have died under Hu Jintaorsquos rule in the Tibet Autonomous Region TAR I wanted to show the world his real facerdquo recalls Tsering who selfimmolated himself ldquoI didnrsquot have any other optionrdquo he tells us simply over a call from Delhi echoing the essence of the path of nonviolence that thousands of Tibetans have marched on in the face of extreme oppressionMoments from the productionTsering returns to the city again today mdash this time with theatre as his medium of expression Directed and translated by him PahLak a Tibetan production written by Abhishek Majumdar will be staged at Prithvi Theatre as part of their ongoing festival Created in collaboration with Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts TIPA Dharamshala this piece by Tibet Theatre features artistes from the community and is codirected by Harry FuhrmannIt took Majumdar five years to develop the script While imagining the future of nonviolence he got thinking about how the mid20th century witnessed so many nonviolent movements in Commonwealth countries ldquoWhat has happened for us to consider nonviolence as weaker than violence today This prompted me to think about the biggest nonviolent movement today which is the Tibetan strugglerdquo he notesThe playwright immersed himself in research on Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan exile He interviewed hundreds of Tibetans in exile and established contact with prison guards who resigned from TAR capital Lhasa in 2008 and returned to Beijing Playwright Mahesh Dattani his teacher helped him connect with The Foundation for Universal Responsibility and Majumdar also met His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama A part of the research was supported by the foundation To sniff out the story from China and Tibet Majumdar travelled there too ldquoDuring the day my wife and I would do touristy things to stick to their itinerary At night I would step out for the interviews The dangerous part was getting into a prison I had to do it as I knew the play would be set in a prisonrdquo he tells usA Free Tibet rally in LA in 2012 Pics CourtesyGetty ImagesThe play which was first performed in London in 2019 revolves around Deshar a Buddhist nun who lives in a remote village in eastern Tibet When the nuns resist the reeducation measures by the Chinese the monastery is shut down The helplessness amid permanent oppression drives her to selfimmolation mdash the ultimate path of nonviolence in Buddhism ldquoThe plot explores what it means to be nonviolent in this world today where violence is so easily availablerdquo Majumdar revealsLhakpa Tsering Harry Fuhrmann and Abhishek MajumdarTsering founder of Tibet Theatre started translating the English play into Tibetan in 2020 His early experiences in Chinaoccupied Tibet mdash of learning to hold a gun since the age of six while in school as mandated by the Chinese viewing India as ldquothe enemyrdquo fleeing his abusive stepfather to cross over to India and growing up here as a Tibetan refugee mdash colour the story of PahLak ldquoIt also explores how the Chinese are ultimately human beings and that Tibetans donrsquot hate them It is based on real events but it also fills you with hope for the futurerdquo he addsThe 15member team is set to tour Goa south India and Europe next This is the biggest theatre tour for a Tibetan play Fuhrmann who trained the artistes at TIPA shares that it was an emotional journey working on the play ldquoAll the actors have loved ones in Tibet and itrsquos a task for them to tell the world about whatrsquos happening in TibetItrsquos being forgotten The play helps to create awareness about the movementrdquo he addsOn Today 6 pm and 9 pmAt Prithvi Theatre JuhuLog on to inbookmyshowcomCost Rs 750