Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Se Nu Chi Ja

This man with beautiful wrinkles is Se Nu hi Ja. He is 65 years old.

After i sat with him and a group of men in a village outside Ganzi, he let me into his house. It was a typical village house made of dirt, with curtains in place of doors. He offered me some tsampa (tea with flour) and told me about his life.
When he was 19 he had traveled to India, and he could still remember a few words of Hindi.
Soon after his return, Mao's cultural revolution was raging and anyone who could read was considered a dangerous intellectual.
Se Nu Chi Ja was arrested and spent 18 years of his life in Mao's labor camps.

It was dark when i left his house and it was quite a hike back to Ganzi. By chance i got a lift from a couple of bikes.

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