Ko Fuk came forward and started reading. The first page had a picture of a river and a bridge over it. A black dog and a white dog were facing each other on the bridge and fighting. On the facing page, the two dogs had fallen into the river. As Ko Fuk turned to the next page, she saw a river with a bridge going across. Here a black goat and a white goat were facing each other. In the picture below this, the white goat had backed out and made room for the black goat to pass. The next picture showed the two goats going their separate ways to the two different banks of the river.

‘So what do you think?’ the teacher asked after Ko Fuk finished reading.

‘The dog is a bigger scoundrel than the goat, sir,’ a boy replied.

The children roared with laughter. Looking at the children for a while, the teacher said, ‘The moral of this story is that we should live in harmony. There is nothing to gain by fighting.’

‘Why is China fighting with India? My elder brothers say this is not a good thing.’

‘China is fighting with India for land. I have heard it on the radio. Our father and the others discuss it in hushed voices. They are worried.’

‘Nowadays they don’t let us go outside to play. They say, don’t go, they will beat you.’

‘Ahlin ache cries all the time. Ananta dada and the others scolded her because she is Chinese. They say Chow Mao murdabad. Who is Chow Mao?’

‘Don’t you know about Mao? Chairman Mao. Chow En Lai. Didn’t you see them in the pictures in our school verandah? They are fighting with India.’

‘Why do these old people fight so much? I think they don’t know the story of the dogs and the goats.’

‘They should have studied in our school. Sir could have told them the moral of the story.’

‘Stop talking. Read another story. You read, Ko Fuk,’ the teacher said indifferently.

The ever-smiling teacher was cheerless today. He was engrossed in his own thoughts. Suddenly one of the boys called out, ‘Sir, there are police outside!’

Police!

The teacher got startled and went out. The headmaster was already outside. There were two policemen at the gate. One of them said, ‘Sir, Ali sir has asked you to close the school for the day.’

‘Has something happened?’ the headmaster asked worriedly.

‘We have heard that some orders have come from Shillong. We don’t know what they are. Send the local children home. Don’t let the hostel children and the teachers go out. You, too, shouldn’t go out.’

After some thought, Chow Chi Yong asked the teacher to send the children home. Then he said to the policemen, ‘But we have to go home, or our families will be worried.’