Female Indentured Labourers in the Depot
Here the women wear the white saris (robes) they received when they left Kolkata, and a few hold a hookah (tobacco waterpipe). Visitors are allowed on Sundays. These are mostly Hindustanis looking for relatives, a spouse or news from India. Photographer Van Lelyveld also visits the depot. He notes the name of one woman, ‘Oemranie.’