We can see the shore!” a man shouted excitedly. Burjor felt too sluggish to drag himself onto the deck of SS Victoria III, about to finish its 19-day voyage from Singapore to Bombay. Most of his fellow passengers ate either beef or pork. He had to sustain himself on coarse rice, potatoes and a thick dal, supplemented with some apples he had bought in Singapore. Drinking water was strictly rationed and he had to sleep in the storeroom with a large bag of grains as his pillow. However, what bothered him most were the rats darting all over the steamer.
Burjor......