IF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH YOU MIGHT REMEMBER hearing about Bhopal. On December 3, 1984, just before midnight, the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal farted out 4000 tons of toxic cyanide gas, immediately killing nearly 4000 unsuspecting Indians. The death toll eventually reached 20,000. Other toxins have leached into the water supply and still affect the million and a half people who live in Bhopal today.
Yes, we are staying in Bhopal at the aptly named Bhopal Grande, a boutique hotel overlooking Upper Lake. It took all day to get here from Keoladeo – a 5 AM taxi ride to Agra followed by a pleasant 6-hour train ride through fields of wheat and mustard. Bhopal is as dirty as any other Indian city of 1+ million but it is the first place where we have felt in control. The hotel was wonderful in booking taxis for us to visit nearby (sort of) sites and we found an actual supermarket in one of the malls. At last we have emergency peanut butter.
