In a way, I was relieved to be in prison

And then I stepped into the main prison complex. Byculla Jail is a twofloor complex. It has two units—Circle-1 and Circle-2.

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.)’