The Documentary Podcast
Three Million: 2. The cigarette tin
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February 23, 2024
27 minutes
Available for over a year
A boy decides how much rice he can give from a cigarette tin to hungry people. A Christian missionary sets up a makeshift relief hospital. A small child watches through the gates of his house in Calcutta as emaciated women clutching children ask for food.
As the food crisis deepens, shocking testimonies from the countryside show the extent of starvation. Many thousands of hungry people begin moving from the rural areas towards the cities.
Indians - including children - are forced into life-or-death decisions.
Presenter: Kavita Puri
Series producer: Ant Adeane
Editor: Emma Rippon
Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore
Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck
Original music: Felix Taylor
With thanks to Dr Janam Mukherjee, Professor Joya Chatterji and Dr Diya Gupta.
Interview with Alan McLeod courtesy of the University of Cambridge