New Zealand

New Zealand is a crucial point of reference in Lin’s arrival in India: the country appears as the identity carried by his forged passport, the starting point of his journey from Auckland, and the home of friends whose remembered kindness accompanies him into exile. It is less a described setting than a name that helps him cross a border while linking escape to the life he believes he has lost.

Route and False Identity

On his first journey to India, Lin travels from Auckland using Lin’s false New Zealand passport, made by substituting his photograph for the original. He has prepared it himself and knows it is imperfect: he expects it to survive a routine examination but fears that inquiries to the New Zealand High Commission would expose the forgery. The passport gives him a vulnerable, borrowed identity rather than secure freedom.

A Cover at the Airport

Lin looks for fellow New Zealanders on the plane and finds a small group of students making their second trip to the subcontinent. He cultivates a slight acquaintance with them and reaches the airport controls alongside them. Indian officials assume he belongs with the relaxed group and give him only a cursory check. New Zealand thus figures in the practical mechanics of his escape: the apparent connection to the students makes his false identity less conspicuous.

Memory and Belonging

The country also remains attached to Lin’s private memories. Before entering India, he has promised a girl who is a friend in New Zealand that, if he gets there safely with his false passport, he will have a drink and think of her. After arriving, he treats the whisky as part of that promise and offers some to Prabaker before drinking. The ritual carries the weight of relationships he believes he has lost through his escape from prison; he imagines himself alone, with his former life preserved in memories, tokens, and pledges of love.

A Name Used as a Shield

When Prabaker introduces Lin to Sanjay Deshpande, he identifies Lin as being from New Zealand. The introduction extends the identity already embodied by the passport into an ordinary social encounter. Across these moments, New Zealand marks both concealment and attachment: it helps Lin pass as a traveler while recalling the friends and promises he fears he may never see again.