Olympics have created quite a row about Tibet. I am upset with Indian govt for restricting Tibetans right to protest. There are about 200,000 Tibetan refugees in India. I visited Dharamshala when I was in college. It is home for most of the Tibetan refugees in India. I start missing India if I dont visit the place in two years. I just cant imagine the plight of people who are completely displaced because they cannot live in their home countries anymore and visit their homeland anymore. May be all these have prompted me to be a part of the protest.
Olympic torch runs have been a little troublesome all over the world. When I told my sister that I am going she was a little concerned.
I decided to take Caltrain, as driving and parking on the day was not going to be easy. I blocked my calendar to make sure no meetings are scheduled. Torch relay was going to start at 1PM at Justin Herman Plaza, in front of Ferry building.
I took caltrain from redwood city. The train was fairly crowded with mostly Chinese people. I reached city a little past one. I started walking towards Ferry Building. There was a lot of crowd in front of AT & T park. A chinese guy was saying that 'It is pretty sad that I have to leave the country to be able to speak against the government'. While walking up on Embarcadero I heard another person saying 'Like many Americans are against American Government's policy, many Chinese against Chinese government policies too.'
On my way I spotted a funny board that says 'China you murder in Sudan and Tibet whom do you think you are, US?' I clicked his picture using my cellphone and told him that I liked his board. He replied 'Well, it is true. Sad! But true'.
It took me almost 40 minutes to reach Ferry building with all the crowd. The corner I ended up had a lot Chinese. There were also a few anti china protesters. A Chinese shouted 'Dont believe what western media says about China.' A pro-Tibetan shouted 'How much of freedom does press have in China'. After waiting for sometime a middle aged Chinese guy with Olympic T-shirt almost fainted. Protesters around him helped him to sit down and made sure he drank some water and relaxed. Humanity is always comes before politics, doesnt it?
Only in San Francisco do you see a Chinese Flag and a Tibetan flag together. Both shouting their own Slogans. I mentioned it to a person standing next to me. He replies, 'Yes! I bet you cant do it at Tiananmen Square'. But there were some tense moments with couple of people exchanging some words. After sometime a huge group of Tibetan protesters passed our intersection. A person started shouting ta Chinese 'You know why I hate you, you guys are communists' Another protester tried to calm him down. A small fight broke out and Police calmed them. We figured that they changed the route, I finally got in touch with my friends, met them and left for home.
As many Chinese at the Rally said Politics and Sports should not be mixed. But if Sports can lend some voice to the oppressed, why not?
Olympic torch runs have been a little troublesome all over the world. When I told my sister that I am going she was a little concerned.
I decided to take Caltrain, as driving and parking on the day was not going to be easy. I blocked my calendar to make sure no meetings are scheduled. Torch relay was going to start at 1PM at Justin Herman Plaza, in front of Ferry building.
I took caltrain from redwood city. The train was fairly crowded with mostly Chinese people. I reached city a little past one. I started walking towards Ferry Building. There was a lot of crowd in front of AT & T park. A chinese guy was saying that 'It is pretty sad that I have to leave the country to be able to speak against the government'. While walking up on Embarcadero I heard another person saying 'Like many Americans are against American Government's policy, many Chinese against Chinese government policies too.'
On my way I spotted a funny board that says 'China you murder in Sudan and Tibet whom do you think you are, US?' I clicked his picture using my cellphone and told him that I liked his board. He replied 'Well, it is true. Sad! But true'.
It took me almost 40 minutes to reach Ferry building with all the crowd. The corner I ended up had a lot Chinese. There were also a few anti china protesters. A Chinese shouted 'Dont believe what western media says about China.' A pro-Tibetan shouted 'How much of freedom does press have in China'. After waiting for sometime a middle aged Chinese guy with Olympic T-shirt almost fainted. Protesters around him helped him to sit down and made sure he drank some water and relaxed. Humanity is always comes before politics, doesnt it?
Only in San Francisco do you see a Chinese Flag and a Tibetan flag together. Both shouting their own Slogans. I mentioned it to a person standing next to me. He replies, 'Yes! I bet you cant do it at Tiananmen Square'. But there were some tense moments with couple of people exchanging some words. After sometime a huge group of Tibetan protesters passed our intersection. A person started shouting ta Chinese 'You know why I hate you, you guys are communists' Another protester tried to calm him down. A small fight broke out and Police calmed them. We figured that they changed the route, I finally got in touch with my friends, met them and left for home.
As many Chinese at the Rally said Politics and Sports should not be mixed. But if Sports can lend some voice to the oppressed, why not?
