About this Book

Two worlds long past: the Second World War and the British colonial presence in India. For the responsible officials in New Delhi and Calcutta the main threat seems to be a Japanese invasion of south-east Bengal – part of today's Bangladesh. But for Bengal's rural population a far worse threat soon becomes reality. Rises in the price of rice from mid 1942 onwards, and shortages of rice – real or apparent – in 1943 lead to an ever increasing number of people being unable to afford enough food to live on. In spite of the efforts of dedicated members of the ICS (Indian Colonial Service) and ministers of the Bengal government, relief does not come before November 1943 – too late for the millions already dead and too late for the millions who die later from starvation-related illnesses.
The famine is seen from the point of view of a number of characters, in particular David Ronsley, coming to Calcutta to work in the ICS in 1939 straight from University in London, and Evelyn Henderson, the young wife of a senior ICS official. Both Evelyn's relationship with her husband and David's with Anandita, a Hindu widow and mother, change significantly in the years up to 1945.
Completely different viewpoints are those of Deepesh Johar, an experienced secondary school teacher with a large family, and Shefali Verma, a married woman and mother still in her teens. Together with their families both Shefali and Deepesh suffer terribly from the famine.