Essay Arts

Rocking For a Free Tibet

A three-brother band in McLeod Ganj is giving voice to the angst of the Tibetan youth in exile

01 November 2010
An old picture of the JJI brothers seen on a wall at their rehearsal space.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAMI SIVA
An old picture of the JJI brothers seen on a wall at their rehearsal space.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAMI SIVA

I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY HEAD. It’s like short-term memory loss,” says Tensin Jigme, a sheepish smile spreading across his face. “It’s here, in my head, but I am not able to remember it exactly. You are going to have a hard time talking to me.” I have just asked him what music he is into while Jimi Hendrix bellows from the café speakers in the background.

Jigme is a part of a local three-brother band called JJI Exile Brothers— their names in the order of age: Jamyang, 33 (bass and lead vocals), Jigme, 31 (lead guitar, vocals) and Ingsel, 30 (drums and vocals). The brothers are second-generation Tibetan refugees living in exile in McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, the headquarters of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the official residence of the 14th Dalai Lama. The town is home to several Buddhist monasteries and thousands of Tibetan refugees.

JJI’s music—rock and blues fused with the acoustic melodies of Tibetan instruments and Bob Marley-style protest lyrics—is giving voice to the un-Buddhist rage of this troubled generation. The continuing unrest in Tibet has immediate repercussions on the exiled community in McLeod Ganj.

Snigdha Poonam  was previously  an editor at The Caravan. She has written for a number of publications, including the New York TImes, The Guardian and Granta.

Keywords: sami siva Mcleod Ganj JJI Exile Brothers Himachal Pradesh Tibetan Government in Exile 14th Dalai Lama Bob Marley Bhagsu Road Tibet Chinese Red Army Dharamsala CNN BBC NDTV Star TV Lower Tibetan Childrens Village School Kalon Tripa Tsulag Khang Tibet Express Guardian UNHCR Echo
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