An Unforgettable Meal

Short Reflection by Yin Marsh, author of Doing Time With Nehru

It was not long after the Chinese Indians, who were arrested and taken from their homes in the Himalayas and transported across India and incarcerated in Deoli Camp in the Rajasthan desert, that they experienced an unforgettable meal. Bobby, along with his father and sister, had just returned to their new abode at Wing 1, #6 carrying food they had just picked up from the main kitchen at Wing 2. Bobby was so excited to tell their grandmother that they had picked up something she could finally eat. Up until then, the food they were given was either burnt or undercooked. The camp kitchen staff was unaccustomed to feeding 3000 prisoners so everything they cooked was either undercooked or burnt. For instance, the dhal was often undercooked lentils in a watery soup with no flavor. The rice was also undercooked, and one had to chew on each grain. One time the rice was burned on the bottom and raw on top. The meat curries were always very tough. Poor Popo, who had false teeth, had a hard time chewing the food. The raw grains of lentil or rice would get caught between her teeth and gums. The meat, of course, was impossible for her to chew. They were all worried that she was having enough nutrition.

As they approached their dwelling, Bobby shouted out to their grandmother, “Popo, Popo, we brought you some soup this time and I’m sure you’re going to be able to eat it!” Popo was very happy to hear the news. Their father laid the food on the table, and they sat down to eat. In the beginning they only had two bowls, so they took turns eating. Pope got one bowl and YC got the second one.  YC looked at her bowl and was about to take a sip of the soup when she saw some strange things floating in it. She took her spoon and pushed the things around said, “Here, Bobby, you can have the first round.” Bobby was eager since he was hungry and put his spoon into the bowl and was about to put a spoonful into his mouth when he stopped with his eyes wide open and shouted, “Papa, what kind of soup is this? There are strange tube-like things in here!” Popo had taken a sip of her soup already and had a sickened look on her face. She quickly gave her bowl to their father. He took it and looked into it and sure enough he saw tube-like objects and other pieces of unfamiliar things. YC shouted saying, “It looks like bits of tires and other junk parts. I think they are trying to kill us. We can’t eat this, it’s disgusting.” Their father didn’t know what the things were but said they definitely should not eat the soup.

By this time, other families were also shouting and causing a big commotion. The men from the families got together and went up to the Commandant and complained. They told him it was unacceptable to be given food that was not fit for humans. The Commandant immediately went to find out what was going on in the kitchen. The staff was having a hard time getting enough meat to cook for all the internees and, apparently, someone on the staff found out that there was a dead camel down the road and they had it brought to the camp. They figured that the beast was large enough it would supply meat for everyone. The prisoners were shocked when they heard this and protested and even threatened to go on a hunger strike. YC cried out, “I knew they were trying to kill us!” The Commandant apologized profusely and explained that it was wrong for them to be given camel meat, but he said the staff only thought they were trying to solve a problem. The internees finally calmed down but not without the complete loss of trust for the authorities.