My essays present an argument: Tenzin

Tsundue speaks to Spicezee about his love for books and Tibet.

Activism brings to mind spirited slogan shouting, a certain disregard for appearance and a heightened sensitivity towards issues of freedom and originality. When seen with this perspective, Tibetan activist, writer, poet, Tenzin Tsundue stands apart. Vogue has rated him among the 50 most stylish Indians, and his weapon of protest is ‘mightier than the sword’.

When Shivangi Singh and Nabila Habib of Spicezee.com caught the celebrated Tsundue, he came across as a very placid and warm individual, with a charming (and paradoxical) disregard about his appearance that was extremely appealing. The small, wiry activist talks in fluent and engaging Hindi, and fills up the spaces in between his words with poetic silences pregnant with a strange fervour for freedom, giving him a very lyrical quality. Excerpts from an interview: Q: What made you take up the cause of Tibet? Tensin: I was born and brought up in India, but I am still a foreigner – legally. Culturally I am very much an Indian. Chahe hum Hindi bolen ya Tamil bolen, hain to hum Indian hi. (Whether we speak in Hindi or Tamil, we would still be Indians.)Just like you or any other young Indian. But my problem is mera ghar nahi he. (I don’t have a home). Q: Are you more like a vagabond? Tensin: No not like a vagabond. I am a man who is out of his house, who has to reclaim his home. My country is occupied by China. We have to reclaim the independence of my country. Q: So you are fighting China… Tensin: Yeah, but it doesn’t mean we cause violence to them. They have caused so much violence on us, but we take this as a challenge to our practice of non-violence. You will perhaps not see a Tibetan take to violence. I am an activist who is fighting for things I believe in. As an activist and as a writer - these are the two ways I fight for the freedom of my country. Q: What is the purpose of your writings? Tensin: When I am writing poetry, essays and stories, I am making an argument from our side. I am fighting for the cause of my country. I am an activist and a writer. So when I write stories and when I write essays I am making an argument. I am making people know our opinion on that, and this is to help people make sense out of Tibet. Q: Why in English, of all languages? Tensin: Because there is so much of propaganda from China. I am writing our story in English language, making other people know our side in a way it’s a voice that I am making for our people who may not speak English, who may not understand us, for we speak Tibetan, write Tibetan. Q: Do your poems also carry the same message? Tensin: Poetry is different. It has to come from within. I can sit at a desk for three days and write a wonderful essay, but poetry is something that should come to me. I cannot sit at a desk like that and write poetry. An inspiration should come from within. And if it is coming then I should listen to it very collectedly, and put it together very sincerely. It requires a lot of craft. Q: What are you writing next? Tensin: I will soon be coming up with more Tibetan stories. Q: Some writers whom you appreciate? Tensin: I like the works of AK Ramanujan, Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Moraes and Frost.