“When the prayers were finished the most able bodied of the men, young and old, were promptly asked to lie down on the jute and straw mats. The youngest boy was thirteen. The mother of the thirteen-year-old slicked down her son’s cowlick with her own spit, as if he was going to get his photo taken, and gently nudged him towards the mats. He looked back at her and then obediently lay down and held out his skinny arm.“

Read More