For me personally it was another training at a new premise/location, though a little excited to visit Central jail(Karnataka), I definitely didn’t gauge the experience would be so over whelming and thought provoking. Firstly kudos to Central Jail of Karnataka for being in process of attaining the first Eat Right Jail Campus. The CMO Dr.Uma is such a soft spoken lady that it is difficult to imagine her between so many prisoners and convicts as a doctor; Work takes you places and gives you varied experience. Below the soft spoken lady was the assertive, strong willed, resilient women who was to willing to do her work to the best of capabilities. The Food Safety training was her initiative to make the food for the prison inmates safe and healthy, which comprises of not only the 5000 odd convicts but also the police staff working there.

This article is more of my personal experience from the visit than to do with food safety, here is a sneak peek to the world inside my head. I often wonder how complex human emotions are, we are all so similar yet so different. My take on visiting the central jail was totally YOLO-might not get this opportunity again so grab it while you have it, was not mandatory but i chose it. I mean to visit not as prisoner but as guest for conducting a training, why not. In a jail with 5000 plus convicts, in a room with 100 prisoners in 2 batches for training. First thing is its not like what they show in movies, what all we imagine , thanks to the portrayal we have so much prejudice since childhood which gets affected by media as we grow. It is a huge campus with open grounds, airy where prisoners are free to walk and talk. Obviously they look normal unlike some of us would have imagined, dressed in white clothes(no stripes 😉 Surprisingly enough it is the prisoners who are to be seen everywhere doing all the regular works with police only to guard and supervise them. The inquisitive me takes better of me on most occasions, luckily enough Dr.Uma was kind enough to answer them with a lot of patience. The Q&A gave me a little insight on the story of a couple of convicts, which gave me goose bumps and made the overthinking brain of mine run at supersonic speed for example the person helping us set the projector-a well spoken, decent looking person was under life imprisonment for the murder of his wife (obviously I could not ask him for the story) but it made me think alot . The crime they did, the story behind it, the consequences which followed, how their families reacted, their realization and reformation, it is a lot of information to be processed and involves so many psychological factors, their roots, upbringing, values and morals learnt. I was happy to learn that there are several NGO’s and other organizations working with these convicts to make their life better in and outside prison. I was glad we could do a bit from our side by spreading knowledge on food safety basics and really hope the certificate they get for completion of training will somehow help them in life.