Do you know the nutritional value of grass?
It was announced at one time on the radio!
It is a tragic story indeed!
The novel Shattered lands by Sam Dalrymple tells about the partition of the British India and among other things tells about the Bengal famine.
Many historians try to whiteswash the history when it does not suit them which is why this tragedy which killed more than 2 million people is still not known to many!
The 1943 Bengal Famine was a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Bengal province of British India that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 2 to 3.8 million people. Occurring at the height of World War II, it stands as one of the deadliest man-made disasters of the 20th century, deeply tied to British colonial governance and wartime economic policy.
Now though ocalized factors like a 1942 cyclone and a fungal crop disease reduced regional rice yields slightly, modern research and economists have proven that there was no absolute shortage of food supply in 1943.
Instead, structural failures and deliberate policies precipitated the mass starvation.
The first was the “Denial Policy”: Fearing a Japanese invasion after the fall of British Burma in 1942, authorities implemented a scorched-earth strategy. They confiscated and destroyed tens of thousands of local boats—the primary transport for food and the livelihood of rural fishermen.
The other CHIEF cause was one man! The British government under Prime Minister Winston Churchill systematically prioritized stockpiling grain for military forces and European reserves over feeding the civilian population. More than 70,000 tons of rice were exported out of India during the first half of 1943 alone!
Severe wartime spending and panic hoarding triggered a massive spike in rice prices (skyrocketing from 2 rupees to 40 rupees). This economic shock priced agricultural laborers, rural artisans, and fishermen completely out of the food market.
The crisis decimated the social fabric of rural Bengal. Millions of starving, impoverished families dissolved as men sold off tiny plots of land to find work and women and children migrated en masse toward cities like Calcutta, begging for standard grain water.
Winston Churchill’s wartime cabinet repeatedly denied urgent requests for relief food shipments and medicine from British officials stationed in India.
Official colonial records from the era reveal deeply unsympathetic attitudes, with Churchill famously blaming Indians for the crisis by stating they were “breeding like rabbits” and asking why Gandhi had not died yet!
There was so much starvation and desperation that even the radio started announcing the Nutritional value of GRASS!
During the Bengal Famine, starving populations consumed wild grasses and aquatic weeds (like khesari or grass peas, shama grass, and water hyacinth) out of desperation.
While grasses provided a temporary, bulky sense of fullness, their nutritional value for humans was incredibly poor and hazardous.
Virtually Zero Caloric Energy: Human digestive tracts lack the enzymes (cellulase) required to break down the tough cellulose and lignin fibers that make up the bulk of wild grasses. As a result, the body could not extract digestible carbohydrates or glucose from them.
The extremely high, indigestible fiber content often led to severe bowel obstruction, intense bloating, and fatal dysentery!
One HUMAN was reduced to eating grass simply because another HUMAN lost his HUMANITY…
Which is why we need money! And rich people who spend because at the end of it all; every donation counts! Just like the massive ₹60,000 crore (approximately $7.7 billion) to be utilized for various social causes by Adani! This monumental endowment is one of the largest corporate philanthropic commitments in Asia, dedicated to enhancing healthcare, education, and skill development!
You can eat more than just Grass with that!
Think about that though when you are wasting your food though…
Shubh ratri…
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