Eventually the Singphos accepted defeat and pledged their loyalty to the British. The slaves that were brought from Assam by the Singphos were released by Captain Neufville. The other neighbouring tribes also offered their loyalty to the East India Company and decided to felicitate the British army in Sadiya. The process of organizing the meeting was going on.

Charles was excited and anxious. His heart was filled with emotion. He kept thinking of his younger brother Robert. Just three years ago his brother had written to him from the Singpho kingdom about tea being grown in Assam, and about the Singpho beverage called phalap. He had also told him about his arrangement with the Singpho chief. Robert had been consumed by his dream of becoming a famous tea trader with Bisa Gaam’s help. But before he could fulfil this dream, he died.

Charles, however, was determined to keep his brother’s dream alive. He had preserved his brother’s letter about the discovery of tea in Assam with utmost care. He decided to meet Bisa Gaam. If they could grow tea in Assam, the entire tea trade would be transformed. Alexander and Robert Bruce would become immortal names in the history of tea.

Maniram Dutta Baruah was an important person for the East India Company now. When David Scott came to Assam to expel the Burmese, Maniram came with him to show him the way. He was also present during the treaty between Scott and the Singpho chief. He was supposed to be present at today’s meeting too. Maniram had told Charles about his friendship with Robert. And Charles had heard Maniram talking to Beddingsfield, an officer of the East India Company, about phalap.

The previous year the English Society of Arts had announced a fifty-guinea prize and a gold medal to anyone in India, West Indies or any other British colony, who could produce twenty pounds of excellent-quality tea. After this announcement many people began to take an interest in the cultivation of tea. Charles was very excited when he was asked to come to Sadiya from Calcutta. After much thought he had brought Robert’s letter with him.

Charles was waiting with this letter in his pocket. Tense, uncertain.

Four

It was a day when history was about to change its course.

Ho Han groaned under the weight of the two heavy baskets balanced across his shoulders on a pole. He walked through the fields of a village situated near Kwangchow. He was a young man now, and was clad in traditional Chinese clothes. On his feet he wore sandals made of straw. It was extremely hot. His sturdy body was soaked in sweat. Ho Yen, a fellow slave who was following him, was also in a similar state. Both of them had a square-shaped scar, a mark that had been burnt onto their foreheads. Anyone could identify them now; the scar symbolized their identities as slaves.

The wounds no longer hurt. They had healed a long time ago. Ho Han couldn’t remember the number of years that had gone by since the meat seller had bought him. He had lost the happy memories of his childhood. All that he remembered were the days of the famine. During some lonely moments, the faces of his sisters who were sold, and of his mother waiting in the verandah, came to his mind. He also remembered that long, hot day in the basket. To this day, he woke up sometimes at night soaked in sweat. He had no affection for his parents, or even respect. But somewhere in his heart he felt a pure affection for his brothers and sisters. Or perhaps it was just a reflection of the affection he had for himself.