A few years after Mei Lin came to Hong Kong, her friends and many other refugees left China and settled in British-administered Hong Kong and various other parts of the world like Canada, Australia and the US. China, after years of chaos and turmoil, had entered a period of stability and development at that time. Many overseas returnees were given ownership of the houses they had been living in.

Lailin had started going to college by then. Most of the children of the returnees who came out from the farms became manual workers. Some of the children who were sent to Peking to study were well established. Many Chinese people who had come from India settled in Hong Kong. Hong Kong gave them security and an environment in which they could grow and develop. The new generation born in Hong Kong went to Western countries for education and work.

Life had become stable now. Even though Hong Kong was under Chinese sovereignty, the overseas Chinese faced no difficulty. The memories remained. And so did the pain of broken homes. There was the love for their birthplace. Every year they came together in their sorrow in the midst of this fast and secure life. They remembered India, which they had left forever – no, the country that had sent them away. Arunabh had come to join in the commemoration of that pain. He brought along with him a character from this epic saga of loss and separation. His name was Pulok.

Pulok was looking neat and clean today. He had combed his grey hair. He wore an old checkered shirt that was Mei Lin’s favourite. The shirt didn’t fit his frail and thin body well. But one could get a glimpse of a star footballer of the Seven Star Club forty-nine years ago. A dim ray of life had started twinkling in his old eyes.

Holding Pulok’s hand and pushing the luggage trolley, Arunabh came out of Hong Kong International Airport.

Pulok looked around in awe like a child.

Does Mei Lin stay in this city? In this huge and sparkling city? Will she laugh looking at him and say, ‘Are you still wearing that old shirt?’

No. She won’t. Pulok shook his head. Mei Lin would not laugh at him.

‘Where are Mei Lin and Lailin?’ Looking around in confusion, Pulok asked Arunabh.

Arunabh was looking for Lailin in the arrival area. Seeing his name on a placard, Arunabh went forward.

‘Are you Arunabh Bora?’ asked a middle-aged man.

‘Yes.’

‘I am Babu. Namaste. Do you know Hindi?’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Good. I used to know Assamese earlier, but have forgotten it now. I only know Chinese and Hindi. I don’t know English. We didn’t get to study, the Indian government detained and sent us away. What to do!’ Babu laughed and shook Arunabh’s hand.

Holding Pulok by his hand, Arunabh exited the airport.