Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Papillon

I completed the book Papillon last night. It was a rivetting story, something along the lines of The Count of Monte Cristo, or Robinson Crusoe.
There was something I found very funny in this book. When Papi lands in Trinidad, there is this captain who says how a 'civilized country' like France treats people inhumanely, and the King would never approve of such ill-treatment. Supposing the story is true, and the captain indeed said this in real life, I wonder if he knew about the penal colony in India, Andamans? Was he aware of how His Majesty's Indian Subjects were treated in such places? They were not even common criminals, they were political prisoners. Or was he aware of the treatment of Indians in British India?
Makes you wonder, huh?