‘Raipur. Will you take me?’

‘Yes, I will.’

The wedding venue was now full of excitement and happiness. The Keheng tea garden resonated with the sound of the drum. In the middle of the night when Ho Han was about to return home with Ah Chin and Dukhi, a whispered rumour spread across the Ranchi line – Ho Yen and Suhagmoni were missing.

Ten

The room wasn’t too large. The floor was quite even. On it lay two planks of wood and placed on top of the wood was a square tile, on which was glued a very fine sheet of paper, without edges or perforation. Chalk had been rubbed on the paper to smooth out any rough edges. Another similar tile was placed over this, facing downward. Only a bit of the topmost part of the tile protruded. On that side sat Ho Han. He was making lead sheets.

In front of him, to the right, was a huge kiln. The mouth of the kiln was slightly raised from the ground. A large iron wok was placed there, in which a mixture of lead and tin was poured. After the mixture boiled, the work would begin.

Ho Han was looking at the wok with concentration. Two Chinese and two Indian coolies stood by, ready to help. These sheets were necessary to line the insides of the tea chests. While some of these sheets came from England, the rest were made locally. A long time ago the government had sent Chinese paper makers and lead-sheet makers to Charles Bruce. One of them had trained Ho Han. Now, with the old canister-maker having left for another garden, the entire responsibility was on Ho Han’s shoulders.

These days the Indian labourers did all the work in the garden. The Chinese had started working under contractors. Ho Han was now the head fitter in Keheng. Ah Chin had become an expert in papermaking, which was needed to wrap the tea chests, like those in China.

Ho Han had trained two Chinese labourers to make lead sheets, and with their help, along with a few other Indian coolies, he started making lead sheets, lead canisters and tea chests. Since it was not plucking season yet, Phulmati had been coming to help him on some days. Ho Han felt like pouring his heart out to Phulmati but could not because of her impenetrable silence.

Lead sheet-making demanded absolute concentration. Phulmati’s job was to remove the scum from the top of the boiling mixture with a sieve attached to a long handle.

When the metal mixture began to boil, Ho Han took half a ladle of it and, holding the upper tile with his left hand and pressing the protruding part with his heel, poured the molten metal between the two tiles. Letting go of the left hand and loosening the heel instantly, Ho Han pressed down hard with his foot, and the upper tile came down with a bang. With a steady hand, lifting the upper tile, he took out a thin lead sheet. He slung it in a corner and repeated the action.