In Kolkata
Bangkok had been my transit point for many of my previous journeys. But I rarely got the chance to observe the airport closely. Those seven hours of waiting made me realise what an international airport should look like. The display board in front of me was constantly changing with information on incoming and outgoing flights from and to airports all over the world. I even had to Google names to know in which country those airports were.
I always like to observe people, silently, from a distance. As Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese-American writer, once said,
Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.
And so I observed, while the chairs next to me obliterated all borders and erased all differences, as time progressed. People with different passports came, rested on those seats, and went. Some of them seemed happy from their Bangkok tour, while some looked sad as their vacation ended. Some were in a hurry, while some were relaxed. Some offered seats to the unknown, while some remained oblivious to others’ needs. I tried but failed to predict their behaviours based on their ethnicities.
Now it was time to decide if I should inform my parents of my homecoming or keep it as a surprise. I was divided into two opinions. Surprise might not be a good idea for two reasons. The last time I came to India, I didn’t inform my parents. Seeing me standing outside the gate at midnight was enough for my mother to have a shock – an incident still talked about. I couldn’t risk her giving another shock, a bigger one this time, because of my homecoming after three years. Besides, I was not sure if I would be able to look for a cab after reaching Kolkata. It would be nice to see some familiar faces once I get there.
So, I called at home. Of course, everybody was happy. They all decided to come to the airport-with our new car-to take me home, after three long years.
Could I imagine it 24 hours ago, especially after having so many setbacks in the last month? The effects of those disappointments were so high on me that when the Indigo check-in counter opened, I was thinking whether I had to show any papers. But the last phase of my journey continued smoothly. I deposited my luggage, collected the boarding pass, finished the security check, and stood in front of the boarding gate. It was 2 in the morning. I was not feeling sleepy at all.
But my city was sleeping, as I looked down from the aircraft. It was 4:50 in the morning. I landed in Kolkata. The journey that had started 2 days ago, ended finally on 1st December, 2022.
And miracles do happen
If you ask me, “How did you feel coming back to India after such a long time? Wasn’t it better here than in China?”
The answer to your first question is easy – of course, I felt great. But I couldn’t answer your second question so easily. It was not a simple black-and-white, better-or-worse comparison. Why? Because some of the experiences of those two months tore me down, some strengthened me, and some made me understand myself better. The contrasting experiences dotted that phase of my life and made my answer to your second question difficult in a simple yes or no.
What I experienced was born in the waning days of the pandemic. I had seen masks falling off people’s faces as I moved from China to Hong Kong to Bangkok to Kolkata. But I had seen two extreme ends of the spectrum – one emerged from a strict regulation at a Chinese airport, and another came out from a jostling crowd at the immigration counter in an Indian airport. I could not find the logic why I had to spend two months in a strict quarantine in Guangzhou, and I also failed to find the COVID-19 testing facilities at the Kolkata airport, which should test 2% of incoming passengers following the government mandate. I faced the strictest government regulation in one country, but equally observed the largest indifference of the people about the pandemic in another.
Today, when I look back on those days, I relive every moment of my heartbreak and growing frustrations in that small and dark rental apartment. But I couldn’t deny the lights that guided me, cared for me in those dark days. The quarantine check posts are true, but so are Madam’s glistening eyes. Those 32 days at the COVID-19 test camps are true, but so are the dustbin packets in my supervisor’s hand while seeing me off. Their selfless love and care in those days and beyond – I don’t know if I would ever get that anywhere in the world. The cancellation emails of my flight tickets are true, but so are the happy faces of my family waiting outside Gate 2A of the Kolkata airport.
And how could I deny, or even explain, the miracles that happened one after another? I got to know the abolition of the test requirement in India, just after the possibility of getting an exit pass emerged. The green code did not turn yellow for me even after travelling outside the Haizhu district for more than 30 minutes. No one checked my phone before entering the Guangzhou airport. One money exchange counter was open in one of the world’s busiest international airports. The weather turned bad and delayed one departure, my flight to Hong Kong. If any of these turned out otherwise, I could not travel to India. A few more days, or months, or years, would be added to my three-year waiting.
The greatest miracle of all would possibly be these five chapters, which I never thought to write. But these episodes will be my testament to the fact that
Good and evil exist only in terms of the happiness or suffering they create in ourselves and others. (Matthieu Ricard)
And I chose to live with those dark days of my life, as they helped me recognise myself, gave me an idea of what I could do, and made me believe in the miracles of life. Today, after three years, in 2025, when I talk about those days, I could not find the sufferings and heartbreaks anymore; rather, I could only remember the love, affection and care of so many people during that phase of my life. And that’s why, possibly, I couldn’t resist going back there after spending one month in India.
As promised, I went back to China in January 2023.
