March 10th, 2002 in Indianapolis

In Indianapolis, one young dog named Jampa and about 30 people including five Tibetans braved the cold and wind to walk over 5 miles on March 10th, Tibetan Uprising Day. The “March for Tibet’s Independence” was organized by the International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM). The walk began at 1:30pm from the Governor of Indiana’s Mansion sharing His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s statement with a representative to the Governor and then reciting a prayer and singing the Tibetan National Anthem. Carrying flags and numerous banners, the group walked down the major road of Indianapolis. Walkers at both the front and rear of the line carried the sign, “Honk for Tibet.” As a result, numerous vehicles honked their horns to support Tibet. Each time this happened, the walkers responded with loud slogans and big smiles.

Along the route, walkers distributed informational flyers to passerbys. On two occasions, Asian individuals when faced with the March, decided to pass a red light rather then risk interacting with the walkers. On another occasion, three Asians on the street when approaching the March, yelled “what do you know about China?” “get real,” and “get a life.” These shouts ended when the three unknown individuals who were also carrying a video camera realized that there were Tibetans in chubas walking. At this point, the unidentified persons ceased eye contact and looked at the ground.

During the course of the March, 50 more young people from Chicago were expected to join the walk. However, it was discovered about one hour into the March that they had miscalculated their driving time, and in their haste to join the March, they were stopped for speeding.

Upon arriving at the Indiana World War Memorial at the Circle downtown at 4:30pm, the walkers circumambulated the structure three times. At the conclusion, a female Tibetan fulbright from Dharamsala read His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s March 10th Statement. The walk ended with the recitation of another prayer.

As a number of the walkers had participated in previous longer “Walks for Tibet’s Independence,” they discovered that some other Tibetans were also on this year’s walk in spirit while not in the flesh, including Ani Panchen, Palden Gyatso, Pema Lhundrup, Ani Kelsang, and Yeshi Togden. The people of Tibet were thought to be walking along side this year’s walkers as well!