Five Past Midnight in Bhopal
Page 34
Donations to support Dominique Lapierre’s humanitarian
action can be sent to: “ACTION POUR LES ENFANTS DES LÉPREUX DE CALCUTTA” (Action Aid for Lepers’ Children of Calcutta) Care of: Dominique & Dominique Lapierre «Les Bignoles», Val de Rian, F-83350 Ramatuelle, France website: www.cityofjoyaid.org
Banking transfers can be made directly to:
Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP), Agency Paris Kléber 51, Avenue Kléber, F-75116 Paris, France Bank Code: 30004 — Agency Code: 00892 Account Number: 00001393127 — Clé Rib: 21 IBAN: FR76 3000 4008 9200 0013 9312 721
For taxpayers in the USA, tax-deductible contributions can be sent to:
“CITY OF JOY AID, Inc.”
Taxpayer Identification Number: 54-1566941 Care of Marie B. Allizon 7419 Lisle Avenue, Falls Church, VA. 22043, USA Telefax: +1 (703) 734.69.56
Dominique Lapierre’s organization has NO overhead costs. Each donation received goes entirely to serve a priority action.
Photo credits
All photos are from the authors’ collection except: p. 4–5: coll. Eduardo Muñoz; p. 6 (top): coll. Zahir Ul Islam; p. 6 (bottom)–7: coll. Niloufar Khan; p. 8 (top): coll. John Luke Couvaras; p. 13–14 (up)–15–16 (top; left bottom): coll. Jamaini.
* A lentil purée that is the main source of vegetable protein in India.
† Wheat pancakes.
‡ A small, rudimentary oven.
* Literally “four legs,” a bed made out of rope strung across a wooden frame.
* A ceremonial offering in front of the altar of a god.
† Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated with an explosion of fireworks and firecrackers, is the most joyous festival in the Hindu calendar. Dassahra, the tenth day of the festival of Durga celebrating the goddess’s victory over the buffalo demon of ignorance.
* A long garment worn by Muslim women, completely concealing the body and face.
* Pieces of material draped around the thighs and between the legs.
* A bustee is a poor neighborhood of makeshift shacks.
* Wheel of destiny.
* Small balls of coal and straw used as fuel for cooking food.
* A bribe.
* Literally “big arms,” ruffians.
* This smell of boiled cabbage was to take hold in the magic valley. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that, between January 1, 1980, and the end of 1984, at least sixty-one leakages of methyl isocyanate occurred at the Institute factory. The management of the factory had not brought most of these leaks to the attention of the people living in the valley, on the grounds that they did not pose a real health threat or exceed the legally accepted standards for toxic emissions in the atmosphere.
* Namaste or namaskar, literally “to prostrate oneself.” A salutation involving pressing the hands together at the level of one’s heart or face. The degree of respect shown is measured by the height at which the hands, which may be raised as high as the forehead, are held.
* Canonical law.
* A wise or learned man.
* The elephant-headed god of prosperity.
* According to the magazine India Today of April 15, 1989, more than three thousand little girls a year are delivered into prostitution on the occasion of the festival of Makara Sankrauti in the state of Karnataka alone.
* When the palace was demolished, the magnificent Venetian crystal chandeliers that illuminated the feasts held by the nawab were taken down and stored in packing cases. The authors of this book have never been able to recover any trace of them.
* Hindu ascetics.
* Horse-drawn carts.
* Niche indicating the direction of Mecca and, therefore, of prayer.
* Poetic couplets.
* Muslim law, which obliges women to conceal their faces and bodies from the eyes of men.
* Affectionate abbreviation of “sahib.”
* Property title deeds.
* A term of respect; from “sardar,” or “chief.”
* Although originally from the region that was to become Bangladesh, and despite having spent part of his life in the United States, Europe and the largest cities of India, it was to Bhopal that Ranjit Dutta returned to retire.
* A large land owner.
* “Long live!” in Hindi and Urdu.
* Exactly 521,262 people according to the Indian Medical Research Counsel. This figure does not include victims who were not permanent residents of Bhopal, all those of “no fixed abode” or members of nomadic communities. Nor does it include those victims indirectly affected by the tragedy, such as children still in their mothers’ wombs, or those subsequently born to parents poisoned by the gas.
* “Averting a Bhopal Legal Disaster,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 1985.