more on Delhi and now with 650 Bhopalis
I may have been unfair in comparing Delhi and Mumbai -- no, I am sure I have been unfair. There is no way to compare because I arrived in Mumbai from Miami and NYC via Zurich (of all places opposite of India) and I have arrived in Delhi after sleeping on mudcakes for weeks. Most people, I am told, are shocked and horrified here in Delhi. Maude's friend, for instance, locked herself in her hotel room and cried for three days upon arrival here. Other people have called it "the worst place on earth." As far as I can tell, though, it's a beautiful place that looks a lot like an cross between Washington D.C., Miami Beach, but with Indian culture and Indian and British architecture.
As for negative things about Mumbai -- none are specific to Mumbai, actually. Mumbai is just extremely huge and crowded and more of a pain to deal with than most places in India. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the architecture in Mumbai is incredible -- one of the greatest collections of art deco buildings in the world and a ton of other magnificent architecture, both very old British stuff and brand new highrise glitz. You have to get past being terrified of the street, though, to grab a glance up at any buildings. If I went back there today I would probably think it was a very accessible place. But for now I will just keep on enjoying being in Delhi.
Today was very intense. I came to tears several times, on the street and back here in our camp. Early this morning I spotted huge groups of people walking toward us and quickly realized they were all Bhopali gas and contaminated water survivors who had taken the train all night from Bhopal to Delhi. 600 in all. It was a sight I will never forget. Families of the padyatris, and others. People I knew or recognized from back in Bhopal. We formed a massive wave of people and walked to the center of Delhi, close to the government buildings. If you've ever gone to D.C. to lay out grievances and ended up feeling small and somewhat helpless, imagine this -- the capital of a country with over a billion people, and almost that many extremely serious problems. We went to Jantar Mantar, which is a section specifically reserved for the apparently constant flow of people coming to fight with the government. There were all kinds of people there fighting with the cops, hunger striking, waving sticks, and everything else. The cops fired tear gas at some groups.
Tonight, all 600 people are back here at the camp, sharing only a few bathrooms and finding floor space anywhere they can in the rooms in which we have already been sleeping and also out on the ground outside. Many people are very sick. Fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, severe dehydration and heat exhaustion. Right now Maude and I are sitting legs crossed up on one of the metal bunk beds trying to get our photos together and I'm trying to write about the past two days for bhopal.net. So extremely hard to hear ourselves think. It's like a hurricane shelter. Bad mosquitoes, too.
By the way, all this work I'm doing is on a laptop donated to me a while back by my dear Anne Eller back in NY. Thank you, Anne! Just wanted to mention that.
Check bhopal.net for the official story, and all the photos. Won't be up just yet, but probably by the afternoon in NY, evening in Europe, etc.
As for negative things about Mumbai -- none are specific to Mumbai, actually. Mumbai is just extremely huge and crowded and more of a pain to deal with than most places in India. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the architecture in Mumbai is incredible -- one of the greatest collections of art deco buildings in the world and a ton of other magnificent architecture, both very old British stuff and brand new highrise glitz. You have to get past being terrified of the street, though, to grab a glance up at any buildings. If I went back there today I would probably think it was a very accessible place. But for now I will just keep on enjoying being in Delhi.
Today was very intense. I came to tears several times, on the street and back here in our camp. Early this morning I spotted huge groups of people walking toward us and quickly realized they were all Bhopali gas and contaminated water survivors who had taken the train all night from Bhopal to Delhi. 600 in all. It was a sight I will never forget. Families of the padyatris, and others. People I knew or recognized from back in Bhopal. We formed a massive wave of people and walked to the center of Delhi, close to the government buildings. If you've ever gone to D.C. to lay out grievances and ended up feeling small and somewhat helpless, imagine this -- the capital of a country with over a billion people, and almost that many extremely serious problems. We went to Jantar Mantar, which is a section specifically reserved for the apparently constant flow of people coming to fight with the government. There were all kinds of people there fighting with the cops, hunger striking, waving sticks, and everything else. The cops fired tear gas at some groups.
Tonight, all 600 people are back here at the camp, sharing only a few bathrooms and finding floor space anywhere they can in the rooms in which we have already been sleeping and also out on the ground outside. Many people are very sick. Fevers, diarrhea, vomiting, severe dehydration and heat exhaustion. Right now Maude and I are sitting legs crossed up on one of the metal bunk beds trying to get our photos together and I'm trying to write about the past two days for bhopal.net. So extremely hard to hear ourselves think. It's like a hurricane shelter. Bad mosquitoes, too.
By the way, all this work I'm doing is on a laptop donated to me a while back by my dear Anne Eller back in NY. Thank you, Anne! Just wanted to mention that.
Check bhopal.net for the official story, and all the photos. Won't be up just yet, but probably by the afternoon in NY, evening in Europe, etc.
posted by Michael M. at 8:32 AM
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