‘Yes. Most of them do woodwork. Apart from being good at making furniture, they also build houses. The Chinese carpenters here enjoy a good reputation. Do you know any carpentry?’

‘Yes, a little.’

‘That’s good. I’ll arrange for you to learn woodwork. When your contract is up, you can work on your own.’

‘Everyone says that but they don’t let us go. As soon as one contract is over, they force us into another.’

‘They may not. It is too early to say. That over there is Lal Bazaar Thana. It’s the Calcutta police headquarters.’ They now entered Bow Bazaar. ‘And over there is my medicine shop,’ Lum Kwa pointed out. A two-storied wooden house stood beside the road. A young boy sat outside with bottles of Chinese medicines.

Getting off the phaeton, Ho Han followed Lum Kwa into a small lane. The ambience here was completely different. Light filtered out through the closed windows of houses on either side. From each of these, one could hear the beats of the tabla and the tinkling anklets on the feet of nautch girls. Well-decorated phaetons carrying aristocratic men stood before these houses, giving the place a rather mysterious air.

Lum Kwa and Ho Han went further inside into a narrow lane where Chinese families lived. Ho Han entered Lum Kwa’s house to find Yi Kan seated there, drinking tea. Looking at Ho Han, he said, ‘We have actually brought you here for a special reason. It was difficult to talk in front of all those people at the depot.’

‘What do you want to talk about?’ Ho Han asked, somewhat worried now.

Hesitating for a moment, Yi Kan said, ‘Although we told you that your agreement was for Calcutta, you will actually have to go further.’

‘Further? Where?’ Ho Han was stupefied.

‘There is a place called Assam some distance away, where there are tea gardens. That’s where you will go. The people who have come with you may be reluctant. You will have to convince them. They all seem to listen to you. There will be no problems in Assam. As a matter of fact, you will be in greater comfort there. You’ll know after you reach.’

Ho Han was stunned. He understood that once again they had been duped by the traffickers. Yi Kan told them that he was taking them to Calcutta. But he would take them to a wretched place for much harder work for sure.

Was there any use protesting now? They were indentured labourers bound by legal obligations. They had signed an agreement and had taken money in advance. They could not say no.

After a long while Ho Han looked up. Both the men were watching him intently. Ho Han slowly shook his head.

‘If I tell them about going further, they will be very angry. I won’t be able to reason with them. You do the reasoning. Why did you lie to us?’

Before Yi Kan could answer him, a local man arrived on the scene. ‘The Chinese are fighting amongst themselves, as well as with all the people in the depot. It’s difficult to make out what is happening,’ he said anxiously.