After the meeting got over, everyone came out of the room quietly. Liang did not come. He would be taken somewhere else. Mei Fung came out of the hall weeping. Mei Lin held her hand and said slowly, ‘Have patience, Mei Fung.’

‘How can I? How much can I? I am not able to bear it, Mei Lin ache.’

No one was able to bear it. Everyone was broken. A storm was brewing.

How could they live in this country? How could they bear the harshness of this country? The confinement?

The memories of a free life in the country that they had left behind were burning inside them. They were restless with the intense urge to return. Then they stopped again. Where would they return? To India? Was that country less heartless? Was that country less cruel?

Mei Lin returned to her room. Seeing her mother, Lailin came to her anxiously. Liang Ching Wan’s family lived adjacent to Mei Lin’s room. The sound of crying could be heard from there.

‘Why are they crying, Maa?’ she asked fearfully.

‘Liang apak was scolded at the meeting.’

‘Why did they scold him, Maa?’

‘He said something bad about Chairman Mao. That’s why. Never say anything bad about anyone in front of others. Or else they will scold us. We will have to cry too.’

‘I won’t.’

‘Now you study. I will cook.’

Without any protest, Lailin sat down to study. Even though she was a young girl, the farm environment had made her mature beyond her years. She knew the name of Chairman Mao. Holding the Red Book, they praised Chairman Mao. They raised the Red Book and shouted, ‘Long live Chairman Mao.’

After dinner, Mei Lin put her daughter to bed, and turned the lamp off. It was not permitted to keep a lamp burning at night. As she lay down, she took Lailin into her arms. Her mind was disturbed. A feeling of fear had started to engulf her with its darkness. Liang’s face, reddened with multiple emotions, was fleeting back and forth in her mind. She also recalled seeing Liang Ching Wan’s eyes moisten with pain.

Suddenly she got up, startled.

Someone was knocking nearby. The sound of crying could be heard. Someone was being harshly reprimanded.

Sitting still for a while, she silently got down from her bed. She opened the door a little and peeped outside. Like hers, the other doors, too, had opened a little. A few fearful eyes, hiding in the darkness, watched the people who were outside.

Four people. No – three people were pushing one person forward.

Mei Lin was petrified.

Liang Ching Wan!

Three people were taking Liang Ching Wan away. The door to his room was open. The sounds of restrained cries were coming from the room. Mei Lin stood for a while, before retreating and slowly shuting her door.