Summary

While Neel Halder waits in the prison to be transported, meals from his household and visit from his servants stop. Instead, he is served a wooden bowl of dal just like all of the other prisoners. Although Neel doesn’t believe in caste, at least not intellectually, this is the first time he’s ever eaten food prepared by someone of unknown caste. The idea makes him sick to his stomach, but he eats anyway. Neel’s wife and son make a final visit to him in prison and tell him that his head servant, Parimal, has offered them a place to stay on his land until Neel serves his seven-year sentence. Later in the chapter, Neel is finally transported to Alipore Jail, near the migrant camp on the outskirts of Calcutta. There, Neel is subjected to a humiliating strip search. He refuses to...