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By Root 1068 0

in their area was not to flee from a fresh threat but to preserve the fragile thread that attached them to the world of the living. Most had been seriously affected by the gases. They were in urgent need of medication. The hospital supplies had been exhausted, so costly treatment would have to be brought in from pharmacies. But with what? Ganga would never forget the sight of his neighbors rushing to the only person now in a position to help them. Since the catastrophe, the moneylender Pulpul Singh’s house had been besieged by survivors clutching the deeds for their huts, transistor radios, watches, jewels or anything else they had, in the hope of exchanging them for a few rupees. People jostled with each other outside the fence, threw themselves at the Sikh’s feet, pleaded and paid him every conceivable compliment. As impassive as a Buddha, he made a clean sweep of all that he was offered. His wife and son recorded names, took a thumbprint on the receipts by way of signature and arranged a most unusual array of objects all over their house. Even chickens that had survived the fateful night could bring in a few notes. That evening, a large box carefully wrapped in a blanket also found its way into the moneylender’s treasure trove: Ganga Ram had pawned his television. With the money he received he would be able to help his neighbors get medicine to relieve their suffering. The magic box that had brought his brothers and sisters so many dreams would have to wait for better days to foster other fantasies.

By December 16, the day of Operation Faith, Bhopal was a ghost town, but television cameras were going to broadcast an event that had become larger than life. Since dawn, fire trucks had been spraying the streets to neutralize any suspect emanations. More than five thousand gas masks had been stored at the city’s main crossroads. A cordon of ambulances and fire engines isolated the factory, while several hundred policemen posted at the various gates allowed only those with special permits to pass. Among them were the chief minister and his wife. They would both be in the front line. Under the photographers’ flashes they took their places in the control room, where Shekil Qureshi and his team had been on watch on the night of December 2. Three military helicopters equipped with water tanks and piloted by men in gas masks, circled continuously over the metal structures, ready to intervene should the need arise. “To think that it took the death of thousands of people for our government to finally take an interest in our factory,” said one disillusioned workman as he listened to reports of the operation on his transistor.

Warren Woomer was satisfied; the equipment necessary to get things running again had been repaired in record time. At eight o’clock precisely, Jagannathan Mukund, surrounded by a police escort, was able to open the stopcock and allow hydrogen to flow into tank 611. A few minutes later, a supervisor announced that the tank had reached the correct pressure, which meant that they could start evacuating the first gallons of the twenty tons of MIC into the reactor to make Sevin. At one P.M., Professor Vardarajan let the chief minister know that one ton of methyl isocyanate had been turned into pesticide.

Arjun Singh was triumphant. Operation Faith had made a totally successful start. Draining the tanks to the last drop of MIC would take three days and three nights. Beaming happily, the intrepid politician clattered down the metal staircase of the beautiful plant with his wife. Already his fellow citizens were preparing to return to their homes. Now he was sure of it: in two months time they would turn out en masse to vote for him.

“Everyone to the teahouse! There’s a sahib there who wants to talk to us!”

Since Rahul’s death, young Sunil Kumar had taken over as messenger in the alleyways of Orya Bustee. He had lost five of his brothers and sisters, as well as his parents, in the catastrophe. Bhopal had offered scant asylum to the family who had arrived so recently from the blighted countryside. The news