Book Review: Wind Horse by Kaushik Barua

Windhorse is the story of Lhasang, who grew up in Kham in Eastern Tibet. The son of a trader, he grew up with stories of King Gesar of Ling, of Padmasambhava, the man who taught Buddhism to Bod (Tibet), and Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje, the man who conquered fear and killed the godless king. But after the Chinese invade Tibet, when it becomes apparent that they will take away "class enemies" to be "retrained", he makes the death-defying trek to India with his family. Uprooted from everything that he knew, all that he held dear, in a foreign country, surrounded by people whose language he doesn't understand, he comes to realize that the only way forward for him is to go back - to Tibet.

This is the story of Norbu, the son of a successful Delhi-based  Tibetan businessman, for whom Tibet is just an idea, a picture of a young Kundun (The Dalai Lama), the place where his grandparents stay. In college, he's lumped together with the Northeastern group on the basis of their facial features. He goes through life controlled by his father, secretly learning all he can about Tibet, but confused about his identity, about his purpose. Until he meets Dolma, a young Tibetan college student. She's escaped from Tibet, though her parents are still there. And she's very active on the political front, fighting to get the Tibetan voice heard, to get help to the refugees who are flocking in to Delhi, to Majnu Ka Tila, almost every day. Norbu goes with her to the refugee colony to teach children English, which is where he meets Lhasang, and his life takes a completely different turn.

This is the story of Thupten, the rich Tibetan trader whose business was ruined by the Chinese and whose only daughter Dechen was killed during the uprising in Lhasa. It is the story of Ratu, a disfigured rebel, of Athar, a rebel monk who took up arms when the Chinese killed the head of his monastery.

This is the story of Tibet. The story of the early years of the Chinese invasion, of the Tibetan's struggle for freedom.

It's a story that is alive with Tibetan myth and culture, with their innate sense of non-violence, and the clash between the ideologies of the older and younger generations caught in the conflict. This is the story of a people who are still in exile, of a conflict that continues until today. And while it is a fictionalized history of Tibet, it is also a story about human beings and their search and struggle for purpose and freedom.

All-in-all, it is a story that must be read. Highly, highly recommended!