One by one, the buses left. The people who were left behind looked at the buses, as if dazed. The bundles they were carrying became heavier.

As soon as they arrived at the port, they encountered a different situation.

There were two ships. Having boarded them, they could only look around in surprise. Most of them had not set eyes on a sea before.

The chief Chinese officer onboard came forward and said in a clear and stern voice, ‘They have thrown you out like beggars and kept all your belongings. You have come aboard with these rags and utensils. Don’t you feel ashamed? Throw them away. Throw out all the Indian stuff!’

People looked at him in surprise.

‘What is this man saying?’ someone asked.

‘He has asked you to throw away all your Indian things.’ Explaining what the officer said, Lao Thien Lee ended with, ‘We are no longer India’s prisoners. We are Chinese now.’

The teacher from Calcutta, Liang Ching Wan, came forward and threw his bundle into the sea in utter disgust. Some of the others followed him, but not all. Babu’s father held his flask close; he had very cleverly hidden his passbook. There were a thousand rupees saved in the passbook.

‘I will not throw my bag. There are papers. There are photos.’

‘We, too, have papers. We will face problems later on.’

‘Yes, yes. We, too, have papers.’

Most of those who had come from Assam held on to their bundles and bags. The Hindu women clutched their belongings desperately, as they contained vermillion, pictures and small idols of gods.

Mei Lin was clautching her small bag. How could she throw away the photograph with Pulok, taken just after they were married? How could she throw away the little pot of vermillion? Her silk mekhela-chador? The beads that Robin gave her? The bowl and the chopsticks of her forefathers? Pulok’s letter?

Seeing her, Liang Ching Wan asked with a taunting smile, ‘What’s wrong? You still haven’t shed your longing for India, have you?’

‘Who told you I wanted to shed my longing?’

‘What do you mean? Will you continue loving this country after all that has happened?’ Without bothering to reply, Mei Lin moved away from Liang Ching Wan.

At that very moment Pulok arrived, permission papers in hand, to meet Mei Lin in faraway Deoli.

Five

Five

In the deep blue waters of the South China Sea, two Chinese ships were sailing along majestically. Under the blazing sun the journey was nearing its end. They had almost reached the Guangdong province of South China.

Fourteen long days had passed.

Almost all the passengers were suffering from sea sickness. Their bodies had wilted, wasting away. There was no one to look after them. No medicine. Nothing.

The Chinese officers were not concerned about anything except providing food regularly. These were valueless returnees, thrown out by an enemy country.