‘And then what happened?’ asked Pulok.

‘I came and stayed with my brother-in-law near Pabhoi tea garden in Tezpur. I searched for jobs, but was unable to get any. They didn’t want Chinese labourers. They wanted carpenters. I didn’t know much carpentry then. Besides, I was young. Who would want to employ me? My brother-in-law worked as a carpenter under a contractor for a pittance. With eight children of their own, they hardly had enough food. How could they feed another mouth? In spite of his hurtful abuses, I had to keep quiet. I had nowhere to go. My elder brother worked as a labourer under the contractor. He used to contribute a few bucks as well. Even then, my brother-in-law abused him. My brother finally became an opium addict and died. I realized that if I stayed there for very long I too would die. My sister also pleaded with me to leave. I came to Silghat. It was very difficult to survive. I suffered a lot. One day I came to Makum with a contractor. I was married and had two children at the time.’

‘The old man then had a long pigtail,’ the mother said with a chuckle.

‘Not pigtail! Plaits,’ said the younger son.

‘It’s the same thing. My friends used to tease me, “Hey Sukmati, you married a girl or a boy?”’

The room was filled with laughter.

‘Tell us about yourself, aunty,’ Rameswar said.

‘How different would my story be? It’s the same as all the other labourers. I am also one of those poor people whom the contractors tricked into coming to this land. We were tricked by that traitorous contractor, that bloody trafficker. My father was too naive. He trusted the man. He said, “Let’s go to Assam. There is comfort in Assam. We won’t have to suffer from hunger.” Forget about comfort, my father died of cholera on the way. Mother also died, leaving me and my two brothers behind. We only cried in those days. In the coolie line, we barely managed to eat one square meal a day. Eventually my brothers became cowherds and I got a job as a nanny in the bungalow. The memsahab was a kind-hearted woman. She treated me very well. Her complexion was like milk, believe it or not. This cunning old fellow was working as a carpenter in the bungalow then. He seduced me with his fair complexion and married me.’

The room was again filled with laughter. The sadness and incredulity that had engulfed the air a short while ago vanished in the merriment.

It was late afternoon by the time Pulok and his friends finished tea. Cycling together in a row, they all reached Makum. As they went past Cheenapatti lane, they stopped when they saw Yiu Yi.

She had come running out from the lane in a flowery pink frock. Her short, straight hair was tied on either side of her head with pink ribbons, which bobbed with each step. She was holding a jute bag. She stopped when she saw Pulok and the others.