Chow looked worried. After a while, he switched off the radio and went out. He had seen life in all its colours. From abject poverty he had risen to become a wealthy contractor. He had arrived after a long period of suffering. Unlike the Chinese carpenters, fitters and meat sellers, he was a man of repute and he understood that the situation was turning grim. These days, even the indifferent Chinese of Cheenapatti listened to the news daily and discussed the issue in hushed voices. A. C. Chow, however, stayed away from these discussions. He had made his money during the construction of the Ledo Road in the Second World War by supplying Chinese labourers. A few Chinese had earned money this way. Most of the Chinese became rich by repairing numerous houses that had broken down during the earthquake of 1950.

He had been living happily in India. He could not educate his children because when they were growing up he was completely immersed in work trying to make a life for himself and his family. This was not a foreign land for him. This was his own country. This land had given him a lot.

For the first time life had become complicated.

He did not know what to do. The situation was deteriorating day by day. The local people had begun to look upon the Chinese with a sense of mistrust and doubt. Town committees were set up to collect money for the soldiers on the war front. It was the beginning of a nationalist agenda. Anything could happen at anytime.

A. C. Chow decided that he had to keep his own position safe and for that he needed to keep his name in the government’s good books. After a discussion with Ho Chang Ho, the president of the Makum Chinese Society, they had decided to hold a meeting to discuss the ways through which they could show their loyalty to India.

When Chow arrived at the Chinese club, many others, including the headmaster, Wang Shu Shin, Ho Chang Ho, Mok Min, Man Chung Ho, Ho Yen Kee, Ho Fuk and K. P. Lee were already seated there. Several copies of the China Review, published in Calcutta, and a few local newspapers, were lying in front of them. With the arrival of Chow, serious discussions began.

Firdaus Ali, the officer-in-charge of the Makum police outpost, was attentively listening to the news at that time. Thakur Prasad Shah arrived on the scene, grinning. Gesturing at him to sit, Firdaus continued to listen to the news from the border. Thakur Prasad was getting restless for he had important news.