He narrated Ho Yen and Suhagmoni’s story. Everyone listened in rapt silence. Babu’s mother Parbati, however, kept wiping her tears. After he finished the story he turned to his wife and said, ‘Go and get the box.’

Yiu Yi’s grandmother brought a small, beautifully carved wooden box which had been kept near the altar. Her grandfather took the box, sighed and began again, ‘One day, my grandfather met a man in the market …’

He went back to the days of his ancestors, to the early period of tea cultivation in Assam. The images of Canton Port, Thirteen Factory, Chinese junks, the South China Sea, Prince of Wales Island and the coolie depots came alive, as did the images of pain and anguish of the people confined in the junk.

‘I have faint childhood memories of my grandmother Suhagmoni. After my grandfather passed away, Mei Lin’s great-grandfather, Ho Han, looked after her. Tung Chin’s father’s grandfather, Ah Chin, came along with our ancestors. That is why we consider ourselves part of the same clan. You should also live like kin. Never fight amongst yourselves. My grandfather came with nothing but a bowl and two chopsticks. He didn’t even have a tool box when he came. My father made this box to hold the bowl and chopsticks. He had asked us to revere this as a relic of our ancestors. Mei Lin’s family has preserved Ho Han’s bowl and chopsticks. They keep it near the altar of the gods and ancestors. You must continue this tradition.’

Opening the box to show the children the blue, flower-inscribed china bowl and the chopsticks, he said, ‘Your parents know this. You all must also remember this as we have remembered, or else we will forget where we came from. We have already forgotten our language.’

‘I’ll write it all down, ah yeh,’ said Yiu Yi’s brother.

His mother stroked his adolescent face and smiled. ‘It’s good if you write it.’

‘If we don’t write it down, slowly everything will be lost to oblivion,’ Yiu Yi’s grandfather said.

‘Now go, play,’ Yiu Yi’s mother said to the children.

The old year was passing in peace and tranquillity. In every house and lane of Cheenapatti lanterns had already been lit.

The Assamese-Chinese community was ready to celebrate the New Year. What they could not imagine was that in the inner courtyard of the foreign ministries of both India and China, a different future was being planned for them.