Yiu Yi’s father came forward, and holding him by his hand said, ‘Come on, come and stand in the line.’

‘No, I won’t stand in line. Why did they say I was a Chinese CID agent? The teacher from Calcutta asked me to keep a passage to escape …’

Yiu Yi’s father took him back to the queue almost by force, as C Hoi smacked his own forehead and wept. The camp fell silent.

After a while the commander spoke again.

‘The camp commander has called a meeting in Wing 1 at three o’clock this afternoon. He will listen to whatever you have to say. Only men will be allowed to come. Everything will be sorted out by tomorrow. Meanwhile, eat the food that has been served.’ He left.

When the men reached the open area of Wing 1 they saw a lot of people already seated on the ground. Mei Lin’s uncle sat beside Lao Thien Lee and asked slowly, ‘Why have they arrested all the Dalai Lamas?’

‘What do you mean by all? There is only one Dalai Lama.’

‘Oh! I meant all the Bhutia people in Wing 1?’

‘Where are the Bhutias? These are Tibetans and Chinese.’

‘Oh ho! It’s one and the same thing. Why have they been arrested? The Dalai Lama is a friend of India, isn’t he?’

‘I don’t know. Besides, you shouldn’t talk about all that. You’ll get into trouble.’

The commanders of the five wings, their deputies, and the camp commander arrived on the scene and sat down facing the people. The camp commander began, ‘I want you to speak openly about your problems.’

At first they were all quiet. Then a number of them started speaking at the same time.

‘One at a time, one at a time please!’ The camp commander stood up and raised his hand.

Everyone had the same complaints. There was no soap, no clothes, no food suitable for children. They were fed up with khichdi. There was no news from home and they wanted to communicate with their families.

After listening to everyone’s complaints, the camp commander spoke. ‘The government can feel your pain. That is why the government has taken some steps to address these problems. From tomorrow, you can cook your own food.’

Instantly everyone’s face turned bright.

The commander continued, ‘Every day, each one of you will get some amount of rice, along with vegetables. Each week, you will get some eggs and fish. Every month, you will get a coupon for five rupees, which you can use to buy your essentials from the canteen outside. The children will be provided milk. You will have the freedom to move about inside the camp but you will need permission from the wing commander to go from one wing to another, or to visit the canteen.’

‘How long do we have to stay here, sir?’