Unrest in Peace: Bhopal Remembers

This collaboration transformed four rooms and one hall way of a rented duplex flat into a lived experience.

The first community-led museum of the country gives voice to survivors of the deadly gas leak and offers lessons in preservation​


AT ‘REMEMBER Bhopal’, the first community-led museum of India, voices of survivors lead you through the biggest industrial disaster of the world that killed over 5,000 people, maimed hundreds of thousands and continues to contaminate land and water even after 33 years.

The leakage of methyl isocyanate gas on December 3, 1984, from the chemical plant of Union Carbide India Limited in Bhopal made it to the history textbooks but it’s here that one confronts the enormity of this man-made tragedy. 
The personal stories can be heard from the receivers put next to the objects and images, making it a good experiment in preserving oral histories led by people. 

Listening to a personal account in the 'Black Room' can transport you to the night of tragedy.

 An aluminium pot from Nafeesa Bi's kitchen reflecting the impact of polluted water

 

Savitri bai remembers her son Vinod through his pencil box.

Jameela Bi's son, who was born with physical disability, used this gaiter to walk

In ‘Anderson Room’ are accounts of journalists and activists about how the tragedy was waiting to happen and the ease with which company owner Warren Anderson flew back to America within 24 hours of his arrest.

From the pits of tragedy and despair, a flight of stairs takes you to skies of hope and determination.

The upper level of the building has walls decked with torches, loudspeakers, banners, brooms and various other art forms used by protesters over the years to jolt the society out of its business-as-usual approach.

Women activists have been the core strength of this struggle which is why they also get greater representation here. Songs of protest can be heard from the receivers as also the strong voices of those who are willing to give a fitting reply.

Activists, both from the affected and unaffected communities, become part of the narrative.A lawyer’s handbook comes with voice of advocate Santosh Kumar who used it to fight cases of compensation for survivors.

This stethoscope helped Dr H H Trivedi diagnose many who were condemned to live a slow death.

From lab to lead, when scientists turn journalists

The mock press conference in action.

“You are misquoting us,” we threw back the most frequently used alibi against media persons and triggered laughter. Four of us journalists had switched roles with a group of scientists at a mock press conference on the campus of Trans Disciplinary University (TDU), Bengaluru.

The session, a part of the orientation workshop for TDU-Nature India media fellowship, was meant to dispel the misgivings between two groups on either side of science communication, and as senior journalist and fellowship coordinator S Gopikrishna Warrier said, to show ‘how the shoe fits’.

The day before, we had selected an already published study that said women can read emotions through eyes better than men. The plan was simple: Give them a taste of their own medicine. Throw a lot of jargon and let the scientists come up with a news story that will sell. As we took our seats in front of the gathering of around 60 science professionals, however, all that confidence petered out.

We started on a faux pas as Sahana, yet to shed her journalistic strength, tried to simplify research results for the audience. A quick intervention helped and we were soon using mobile screens to prattle terms like single nucleotide polymorphism and genomic inflation. There was high hope that the scientists, dealing with pure botanical science at TDU, would have little understanding of psychology. The gathering, to our dismay, was trans disciplinary in true sense. They rejected the study as a farce.

At one point, one of the senior scientists, asked us to demonstrate the validity of our research, “Tell me how am I feeling right now by looking into my eyes,” he challenged.

“A bit skeptical,” teased Amrita evoking mirth.

Despite all the camaraderie, however, our assumed scholarship was of no match to the inquisitiveness of the scientists who said they don’t trust the researchers and threatened not to publish anything.

Our handling of queries about conflict of interest, funding, and practical applications of the results incited more laughter than confidence. Mr Warrier came to our rescue when he asked students to put questions as well, saving us from the seniors. When they came up with headlines like, ‘Cognition is still a mystery’, our job was done.

By the end of the exercise, all of us had learnt new lessons in communication.

“We realised that it’s easier to ask questions,” said one of the scientists.

“It’s essential to simplify science for everyone to understand and make use of it,” said another.

As journalists, we realised the importance of asking the right questions to retrieve the useful information buried in exhaustive methodologies and tedious equations.

We went on to discuss the instances of scientists who are good communicators and journalists who can be trusted for authentic presentation of most technical subjects. Such interactions can ensure that scientists trust journalists and latter remain faithful to science.