Unbroken
By Indrani Mukerjea
Published by HarperCollins India
Pages 400 Price ₹599
In September 2015, when I went in, the prison wasn’t very crowded. Circle-2 housed pregnant women and women with young children—it is colloquially called the ‘bachcha barrack’. Women are allowed to keep their children with them till they are seven years old. There are two barracks within Circle-2. Contrary to what one assumes about prison, the Byculla Jail is actually very well maintained. It has a beautiful garden, with flowers and beautiful plants.
I was put in Circle-1. This unit is where they keep regular female prisoners, and is much bigger—it has six barracks. On the first floor of the prison are four big barracks that function as common dorms. I was assigned to a barrack on the ground floor. The barracks are airy, with lots of fans to keep the inside cool. There are clean bathrooms that are washed by the inmates on duty, twice a day.
On the day I entered prison, the barracks downstairs were almost empty. Other than me, there were only two more people. I hadn’t eaten anything that day. The prison constable, Wasima, was on duty that evening. She came to me and asked, ‘Aapne khana khaya? Aap thoda doodh piyengi? (Have you eaten? Will you have some milk?)’
I remember, I foolishly blurted out, ‘Main raat ko doodh nahin peeti hoon. (I don’t have milk at night.)’
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 13, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 13, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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