Ocean View

GYALPO, 8, sits at a small dinner table in front of a globe. CHOEDEN, 45, stands over him.

CHOEDEN

And this?

GYALPO

Ocean.

CHOEDEN

Gyatso.

GYALPO

Gyatso.

CHOEDEN

Good. This?

GYALPO

Sa shing.

CHOEDEN

No. This is khang-pa.

GYALPO

Home?

CHOEDEN

Home.

GYALPO

But this isn’t the shape of America. Where is—

CHOEDEN

No. We’ve been over this. This—

(spinning the globe)

Is America. And this—

(spinning globe back)

Is khang-pa. Home. Don’t you remember?

GYALPO

Chee . . . na.

CHOEDEN

What?

GYALPO

It says here. Chee . . . na.

CHOEDEN

No. This is not China. We’ve been over this. What is this? Tell me. What am I pointing at?

GYALPO

Tibet.

CHOEDEN

Speak Tibetan.

GYALPO

Bod.

CHOEDEN

Louder.

GYALPO

Boepa.

CHOEDEN

Good. Remember that. You are boepa. You eat bopai khalag. You speak boekay. You wear boeche. You are boepa. You belong to borig. Do you understand?

GYALPO

Yes, Pa.

CHOEDEN

Good. Now—

GYALPO

Pa. Does that mean I am also Chinese?

CHOEDEN

No, what did I just say?

GYALPO

Today, Polly asked me if I was Chinese, so I asked the teacher and she said yes. So I think I am Chinese.

CHOEDEN

Which teacher is this?

GYALPO

Miss Lu.

CHOEDEN
(getting up)

Ridiculous. Unacceptable.

GYALPO

Where are you going?

CHOEDEN

To call your teacher. This is absolutely ridiculous.

GYALPO

Why?

CHOEDEN

Because it’s wrong. Under no circumstances are you to be called Chinese, do you understand?

CHOEDEN calls. The phone rings.

GYALPO

Pa?

CHOEDEN

Hold on.

GYALPO

Why does it matter?

CHOEDEN

What?

CHOEDEN puts down the phone. No one picked up.

GYALPO

Why does it matter if I am Chinese or Tibetan?

CHOEDEN

Because.

GYALPO

Why can’t I be both?

CHOEDEN

Because, Gyalpo, you don’t understand how the world works. It’s important that you know who you are.

GYALPO

De mi-tagpa rey.

CHOEDEN

What?

GYALPO

That’s what Miss Gyatso said in Tibetan school today. De mi-tagpa rey.

CHOEDEN

What do you know about that?

GYALPO

She said nothing matters. It will all just go away.

CHOEDEN

Who does she think she is? His Holiness the Dalai Lama?

GYALPO

She said His Holiness says this too.

CHOEDEN

This is about geopolitics, Gyalpo. Your teacher does not understand the significance of our country and its survival. You cannot listen to her about this, OK? Trust me. Tibet is not impermanent. Tibet is at risk of being impermanent, so we must make sure we keep it alive, that we keep it safe.

GYALPO

But she says everything is impermanent. She says even our bodies are impermanent. She says when we die, we will leave everything behind, including Tibet. Including you.

Silence.

CHOEDEN

Including me.

GYALPO

It’s OK, Pa. She said it’s OK.

CHOEDEN sits down.

CHOEDEN

What else did Miss Gyatso say?

GYALPO

She said it is OK that I lost my pencil case, because de mi-tagpa rey.

CHOEDEN laughs.

GYALPO

She said it’s OK that Kobi’s dad went to Mexico, because de mi-tagpa rey. And that it’s OK that Bernie our turtle died because de mi-tagpa rey. She said we should practice saying that.

CHOEDEN

Kobi’s dad went to Mexico?

GYALPO

Yes. Kobi said he went on a long holiday.

CHOEDEN

Right.

GYALPO

But it’s OK. Because the world is impermed.

CHOEDEN

Impermanent.

GYALPO

Impermament.

CHOEDEN

Close enough. All right.

CHOEDEN closes the book on the table. 

He cleans up.

CHOEDEN

Time for bed. It’s late.

GYALPO

I don’t want to sleep.

CHOEDEN

Come on, Gyalpo.

GYALPO

Why do I have to?

CHOEDEN

Because you are a growing boy. You’ll need it to become strong and tall and smart in the future.

GYALPO

But Pa.

CHOEDEN

Yes?

GYALPO

There might not be a future.

CHOEDEN

What do you mean?

GYALPO

I could be impermament today. I could—

CHOEDEN

Don’t talk nonsense. Come on. If you get up to go to bed quicker, I’ll sneak you a Coca-Cola in your lunch bag tomorrow before your mother sees.

GYALPO

Pa!

GYALPO runs out of the room. He runs back in with a large piece of paper.

CHOEDEN

What is this?

GYALPO

It was from story time.

CHOEDEN

(reading)

“My name is Gyalpo. I love coca cola very much. My Pa does not let me drink coca cola, but I am already coca cola. I am impermmmmd. My body is the can and I feel like coca cola inside. But everything goes away. Even my Pa. Even coca cola. One day, a little boy drinks the coca cola inside the can and everything is gone. Everything inside is gone, and then even the can is gone, and everything is goodbye. This is what my life is. I am coca cola. And when everything is gone, the can is gone too. The boy is gone too. My Pa is gone too. And no one tells anyone not to drink coca cola. Because no one remembers.”

Silence.

CHOEDEN

It’s not the same as giving up, you know? It’s—

GYALPO

What isn’t?

CHOEDEN

Everything will go away. But we don’t give up.

GYALPO

Like Kobi?

CHOEDEN

Come on. Time for bed.

GYALPO

But Pa—

CHOEDEN

Come on. Go brush your teeth.

GYALPO sulks his way out of the room. CHOEDEN is left alone in the room.

He reads the story again.

CHOEDEN reaches up to a cupboard. He takes out a can of Coca-Cola. He reaches for GYALPO’s backpack. He changes his mind. CHOEDEN cracks the can open and drinks. He looks out the window, pours the liquid out of the can, and crushes it.

END OF PLAY

The author would like to thank Geshe Lobsang Dhargyal for his insightful teachings on impermanence and his help in English-Tibetan translations, as well as Lobgsang Nyandak, President of the Tibet Fund, for his guidance on Tibetan culture.