They fetched up in Visakhapatnam and were hired as welders in a factory in Malkapuram Coromandel Gate. The work was hard but the money was good. They had their own rooms, food was decent and they saved enough money every month. But, inevitably, the lockdown lay its deadening fingers here too: the factory shut down and salaries were stopped. Bit by bit, their savings were being eaten into—the five realised the untenability of their survival. The only option, they decided, was to return home to Bardhaman. Yet, the mode of travel, without any buses or trains, presented a logistical impasse. Decisive action was called for, and a bold, audacious plan was seized upon: they would cycle it home, some 1,100 kilometres up the coast towards the east. Brand new Hero and Hercules cycles—costing between Rs 5,500-Rs 6,500 each—were bought with the last of their dwindling savings. Then they set off.