Padyatra daily blog

Day 38 - March 28, 2008

Hazart Nizamudeen, South Delhi - Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

We walk our final stretch of the trek to Jantar Mantar today. We are so happy to finally be in Delhi.

The day starts early: banners, placards and other material for the rally from Nizamuddin park to the Dharna site at Jantar Mantar starts coming in. 50 survivors from Bhopal joined the padyatris today along with Delhi supporters. Breakfast was sponsored by ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness).

The rally, covering 8kms, begins at 10:30 am and reaches Jantar Mantar at 1:00pm.

Moolchand Dada and Maan Singh are exceptionally happy today. Moolchand Dada, a second time Padyatri, has a nostalgic feeling. He remembers the 2006 padyatra and the victory celebrations at Jantar Mantar and he is very optimistic about the struggle this time. He has been living in the water contaminated area of Shiv Sakthi Nagar for the past 20 years. Shiv Sakthi Nagar is located next to Union Carbide's Solar Evaporation Ponds slightly north of the factory. He suffers from weak eyesight and stomach and skin problems due to the contaminated water. During this padyatra he has had a tough time: at the age of 70 he is quite weak and has had severe knee swelling.

In spite of this he has walked with the determination that the water affected communities of Bhopal ought to get clean water and free medical attention from Bhopal. When asked if he wants to return home, he replies with a smile and says "I don't want to go back until the mission here is accomplished."

Moolchand Dada

As his 38 day long walk concludes, 70 year old Maan Singh considers today to be the best day of his life. Completing his joy was his favourite breakfast of Khichadi (rice and lentils) and chips today. Maan Singh has been living in Bhopal for the last 60 years and for at least 10 of those years worked as a contract daily wage labourer at Union Carbide. He recalls the days of his work at the factory and says "every time we inhaled the burning chilly like gas at the factory our supervisors would ask us to wash our faces with cold water - all those years we never knew what was being manufactured inside". He considers himself lucky that he had taken leave on the day of the disaster. Carbide's poisons eventually found him again when he moved to Anu Nagar, a water contaminated area, 15 years ago.

This is Maan Singh's first ever involvement in the campaign and he learnt about the padyatra through his friend Mohamed Salim, who has been active in the campaign. Unlike other padyatris of his age, Maan Singh Dada has not faced problems while walking as he likes to walk a lot; at everyday meetings he would regularly propose to increase the daily distance by 30 kms. He is fully charged up for the battle in Delhi and will return only once we are victorious.

We arrive at Jantar Mantar with drummers announcing our arrival and renowned journalists like Kuldeep Nayar and Praful Bidwai welcoming us at the Dharna spot.

World renowned danseuse Sonal Mansingh is expected to greet the padyatris at 3:00pm, after which we will have a series of cultural programs by local Delhi artists.

The long walk for justice ends. Now, the Dharna to make the Prime Minister to Walk his Talk begins!

Day 37 - March 27, 2008

Badarpur Border - Hazart Nizamudeen, South Delhi: 8km from Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

We wake up at three in the morning today, thanking our stars that we were not rammed into by any of the maniac trucks at the toll gate. It's because of the excitement of reaching Delhi that the padyatris are ready to start the walk before 4 am. Since we are on a busy stretch, all of us walk in a single file. We have to walk only 15 km today to reach Hazrat Nizamudeen where the Delhi supporters have organised our stay for the night at the Dam Dama Shib Gurudwara (Sikh place of worship).

At about day break we stop by at a roadside tea stall for hot chai. Vikas has brought all possible newspapers from Faridabad so that we could see the coverage from yesterday's press conference. The press has been phenomenal once again. We have been covered by all Hindi newspapers. The response from the English dailies has been disappointing, which we had anticipated but everyone was too excited by the opposite result in the popular Hindi dailies. One newspaper published two reports: one general on the padyatra and the demands, and the other with the personal stories of the padyatris.

We resume our walk after tea. Salim and Faheem, along with Sathyu, set to the task of sticking posters at all flyovers and bus stops while Zakir Ali and Raju Yadav take the task of distributing the remaining pamphlets.

We have distributed about 20,000 pamphlets en route to Delhi.

Zakir Ali and Raju Yadav are our best pamphlet distributors. This is Zakir Ali's first ever involvement in the campaign and he's enjoying it hugely. He moved to Blue Moon Colony behind the Union Carbide factory, a water contaminated area, about ten years ago. Before that he lived in Qazi Camp for about five years. Zakir Ali works as a fruit and vegetable seller in the old Bhopal area. He came to know about the contamination in the water only after his children started constantly falling sick. His family faces severe skin and gastrointestinal problems due to consumption of poisoned water.

Zakir Ali came to Bhopal for work and now circumstances have pushed him to not only fight for a living but for a healthy life too. He is keen to go back and mobilise other affected members of his community to join the fight.

45 year old Raju Yadav, on the other hand, was born and brought up in Bhopal. He worked as a coolie in the Nishadpura region at the time of the disaster. Raju - who was hospitalised for a week after being exposed to the gas - suffers from breathlessness and chest and stomach problems. He has lost his ability to carry out strenuous physical work and so is finding it difficult to earn a living now.

Raju moved to Annu Nagar about sixteen years ago and has been living there since then with his family. He lost his wife, who was exposed to the gas, about twelve years ago. His only daughter is currently very sick due to the contaminated water and has been on treatment continually.

A second-time padyatri, Raju is prepared to stay in Delhi indefinitely to ensure that this time the Prime Minister keeps the promises he made two years ago by meeting our demands.

We reach the Dam Dama Gurdwara at eight in the morning and camp at the park behind - which coincidently belongs to the Archaeological Survey of India, a government body.

The gurudwara provides us with a delicious meal of sweet rice, rotis (flat Indian bread) and potatoes and pea curry. Most of the padyatris went for sight seeing in the afternoon at the nearby Humayun's tomb.

We had a short meeting with our Delhi support group members in the evening at which we planned our strategy for tomorrow's rally and the next few days of stay and dharna in Delhi in order to better increase the pressure on the government to force them to talk to us.

Once again battling mosquitoes, we go off to sleep.

Day 36 - March 26, 2008

Faridabad to Badarpur Border - 19km from Delhi

It's a half-day rest today when we will have a press conference and then walk about 8 to 10 km from here to reach the Delhi/Badarpur border for our night halt. We plan to walk the remaining 10 km to Nizamudeen tomorrow morning and our official reception in Delhi at Jantar Mantar, the dharna (sit-in) area is planned for 28th March.

Rachna has been calling the press since the morning and we expect as good a response as we have been getting at other places. Moolchand Sharma from the All Escorts Employees Union brought us very good morning breakfast of bread, samosas and bananas.

Our press conference was at noon. Sathyu, Iqbal bhai and Leela Bai addressed the press, told them about the purpose of our walk and the two demands that we are asking the prime minister to honour.

All the padyatris are jubiliant now that we are so close to Delhi; reaching Delhi would mean winning half the battle. We start our walk towards the Delhi border at about 4 pm. It's a hot afternoon and the traffic on the highway is heavy.

The Faridabad-Delhi highway is lined with several corporate houses, and as we walk we see highrise buildings and vast acres of landscaped areas under the names of some of the major corporations like the Tatas, Escorts, Honda etc. Everyone walks together and we take our first break at an export house for water after walking about 4 km. At the request of the padyatris the security personnel of Druv Export House organised water from a tanker nearby. Refreshed by the cool water we resume our last leg for the day.

Rachna and Vikas had gone in advance to look for a place on the border. They were able to find a Delhi Municipal Corporation Hospital, but later the head nurse of the hospital refused us permission to stay for the night. We decided that we'd request permission from the head nurse once again when the entire group of padyatris arrive later. Our truck had gone in advance with the cooking team so that the night's meal is ready by the time the rest of the group arrives.

When we reach the spot we find our truck, people outside of the hospital premises and the gates locked.

We were informed later that once she saw our truck the nurse had called the police and had us thrown out of the campus.

Angry at the apathy of this government official and the police, we decide to camp on the footpath (pavement) outside the hospital. The pavement lay opposite a toll-gate which saw a heavy inflow of trucks throughout the night. Because of the noise of the traffic and the attack of the mosquitoes most of the padyatris didn't sleep a wink.

a night on the street...

Second time padyatris Chote Khan and Munni Bee stayed up the entire night chatting with others. Seventy year old Chote Khan is very anxious to reach Delhi quickly and wants to meet the Prime Minister as soon as possible. He had great expectations after the last padyatra but has become totally disillusioned with the way the ministers of this country make promises to the poor and never keep them.

Chote Khan and Munni Bee used to live in Rajgarh Colony, which is 500 metres south-west of the Union Carbide factory. After the gas Chote Khan used to have attacks of acute breathlessness and his eyes burned all the time. For 8 days he could not leave his bed and was vomiting green stuff continuously.

In 1993, after the communal riots, he moved with his family to Blue Moon colony. They had no money so he sold off his house in Rajgarh Colony and moved to Blue Moon in a rented house. He wasn't aware of the water contamination in this area then: even though the water tasted horrible and smelled strong, they never suspected that there could be chemicals in it.

After the disaster Chote Khan lost the ability to carry on any strenuous physical activity. He once used to carry loads in the vegetable market but now can work two days in a week at the most.

Chote Khan's family members are very sick due to constant consumption of poisoned water: he lost a grandson and granddaughter who had been severely unwell because of the contaminated water. Chote's mother, who was exposed to the gas, also died after prolonged illness.

Chote and Munni are determined to get the demands fulfilled at any cost. They feel justice would not be only for themsleves and their family but for all those suffering because of the wrongdoings of one corporation and our negligent government.

Munni Bee feels that this current march is even more essential as the efforts began with the 2006 padyatra need to be completed. Munni Bee has suffered a lot during this padyatra with swollen knees and ankles, with fatigue and weakness. She even fainted once due to exhaustion.

Chote Khan looks on helpless as Munni Bee collapses with exhaustion

Despite all this she is determined to carry on and today cannot contain her excitement at being so close to Delhi.

We decided that we will start tomorrow's walk at 4 am in order to reach Delhi in the early hours and so that we face less traffic on the way. While most padyatris play cards to stay awake, some of us go off to sleep for the early day tomorrow.

Day 35 - March 25, 2008

Seekri village to Faridabad - 27km from Delhi

We started at five in the morning though today we have to walk only 15 km before we reach the destination of our night halt and tomorrow's press conference, Faridabad. Walking in the mornings has been pleasant even in the cities despite the traffic and pollution.

young padyatris support the older members

Raeesa Bee has not been feeling well: she had fever last night but she has still been walking. When Raeesa Bee suddenly fainted and fell down in the middle of the road, the padyatris panicked.

Raeesa Bee collapses at the side of the road from exhaustion

All of us surrounded her and while some were shouting her name and sprinkling water on her face others were massaging her hands and feet. She regained consciousness after a few minutes.

Raeesa Bee, a resident of Nawab Colony, lived near the stadium at Pari Bazaar at the time of the disaster. On the night of the gas Raeesa and her husband were awake and at home when the cloud came. They ran out after hearing about the leak and took shelter at the stadium where her husband along with other people helped many to put a wet cloth over their eyes. Raeesa informs us that her eyes were badly swollen and she could not see anything for a few days. Her daughter-in-law was few months pregnant and suffered a still birth due to gas exposure. Raeesa's family members suffer mostly from breathlessness and watering of eyes, while she has severe skin problems and frequent bouts of anxiety.

Raeesa came to know about the padyatra through the community workers of local organisations and had wanted to join ever since. Even though she had a major accident which badly injured her right leg a year ago, Raeesa Bee was determined to walk. Raeesa's main expectations are for better health facilities and treatment for the gas survivors and their families and some useful employment schemes. She is positive that the demands will be met and she is prepared to go to "whatever extent is required" to get them met.

We stopped for tea at Ballabhgarh, about 8 km from Faridabad.

This area is extremely busy, bustling with government employees and daily wage earners leaving for work. It was hardly a spot to rest for the padyatris who had taken on the task of distributing pamphlets. Faheem and Salim were vigorously pasting posters on everything possible, including buses going to Delhi and Rajasthan.

Zareena Bee was extremely concerned about Raeesa Bee's health. She was worried that Raeesa Bee would not be able to make it to Delhi or may fall seriously ill after reaching Delhi. It took several reassurances from her fellow padyatris before she was convinced that things would be fine soon.

Zareena Bee has faced a life of constant struggle since the disaster. A resident of Chola, just a few kilometres away from the Union Carbide factory, Zareena fled from her house on the night of the disaster with her four children. She instantly identifies with the monument of the weeping woman opposite the factory and tells us that she was in a similar situation on the night of the disaster where two her children were on her shoulders, two clutching the ends of her sari and she was desperately running away blinded by the gas.

In 1993 Zareena Bee shifted to Ayub Nagar not realising that she will be haunted by the poisons of the Union Carbide once again and this time through the water. She suffers from severe anxiety, frequent chest pain and stomach burning sensations. Her daughter, who was two and half at the time of the disaster, suffers from severe hormonal problems and is on constant medication.

Zareena Bee came to know about the padyatra during the regular meetings of the organisations and had decided ever since to join. After the first few days of walk she was quite sceptical about her ability to complete it but feels that it was the collective encouragement of all the padyatris that kept her going. This is the first time ever she has been away from here family for so long, and even though she misses them a lot Zareena Bee does not want to go back until we get the demands met by the Prime Minister.

We reach Faridabad by 11 am and take out a procession in the last three kilometres of our walk.

Our stay arrangements have been made in a Dharmshala (lodge) in the city of Old Faridabad and the members of All Escorts Employees Union host us. Mr. Moolchand Sharma of the union provided us with delicious meals in the afternoon and at night.

The padyatris are jubilant as they are only 27 kilometres away from Delhi. Our long walk is about to get over. We have a press conference tomorrow and Rachna gets on the task of getting the press contacts for the local media. We have a meeting in the evening before dinner in which we discuss the content of the press conference and decide upon the speakers. We also discuss the demands in detail. One significant thing that we discussed today was the overall feedback on the padyatra itself with a comment on what went well and what was not up to our satisfaction or what we did not like. Most of the people said that they made new friends and felt like a part of a large family in this padyatra and would feel lonely once they go back to their respective places. Fifteen year old Rafat was upset because she would not be able to participate in the dharna in Delhi as she has to leave for Bhopal on the 29th to make her exams which start on the first of April.

We end the day in a relaxed mood. Tomorrow we have a press conference and have to walk only about 8 to 10 km before reaching the Delhi border.

Day 34 - March 24, 2008

Bahraula village to Seekri village - 42km from Delhi

Our day started at 4 am, with the usual wake up call from Meera followed by a sweet morning tea. We started the walk at 5 am sharp with Gulab Bai, Devaki Bai, Haleeman Bee and Raeesa Bee walking in the front.

We walked about 8 km before an hour long tea break at Palwal Railway Station. Since we have to walk only 23 to 24 km a day, we have gotten into the habit of walking in a much more relaxed fashion.

Arbaaz, who normally walks in the front, is walking quite behind today, the reason being that he was curious to know how many steps he has taken so far in this walk. So he starts counting the number of steps in a kilometre. It was surprising to learn that in this 800 km stretch Arbaaz would have taken about a million steps.

23 year old Raju Khan is walking ahead of everyone today and at times also helping Gulab Bai walk by holding her hand.

Gulab Bai leads the way

Raju used to live with his parents at Qazi Camp and was six months old when the disaster took place. His parents tell him that unlike their neighbours, who chose to run from their houses, they decided to stay indoors and covered everyone with blankets. Raju's parents do not talk much about that night, which they consider the blackest night of their lives. Raju works as a helper in trucks and thus gets to travel across the country. Though he has visited many places like Delhi, Bombay, Mathura etc., Goa is his favourite and he would like to go back there again. Raju came to know about the padyatra through Rachna and Sathyu and decided to join the walk as well as help in the truck along with his best friend Azim (popularly known as Ajju).

Ajju is about a year old when the disaster took place. His family also decided to stay indoors and Ajju feels that this was the prime reason that they were not seriously exposed to Union Carbide's poisons. Unlike his best buddy Raju, Ajju does not believe in a steady source of livelihood and thus keeps changing his line of work. He has worked in a tent house, as a helper in truck and a waste dealer. Ajju too came to know about the padyatra through Sathyu and Rachna. Both Ajju and Raju are eager to go back to Bhopal and join the campaign. Ajju and Raju take turns in helping with the work in the truck and walking.

Our afternoon stop was about 16.5 km along, at the farm house of Mr. Ramroop Singh who was generous enough to allow us to rest in his premises and cook our afternoon meal.

Apart from this, Mr. Singh also provided us tea, dal (lentils), firewood for cooking and two tankers of water for our consumption. Mr. Singh, a local property dealer in this area, is a very socially conscious person and the workers at his farm informed us that he had extended similar help to a group of at least 2000 adivasis (tribals) who participated in last year's Janadesh Padyatra which revolved around land rights issues.

We walk for about 7 km in the afternoon and halt for the night at a government school in Seekri.

While the cooking team gets busy with cooking dinner, Rachna and Vikas take off to look for a place to stay in Faridabad. They come back at only 9 pm after speaking to several senior local district officials and ensuring that we have a place to stay for a day at Faridabad.

Battling with mosquitoes, we go off to sleep and prepare ourselves for the next days walk. Now Delhi is mere 42 km away and we are really excited about reaching there.

Day 33 - March 23, 2008

Hodal to Bahraula village - 66km from Delhi

It is really difficult to walk today because we have had a day off yesterday. We had to walk only 24 km today and so we leave early in the morning with Gulab Bai and Devaki Bai, one of the slowest walkers, leading the procession.

Shafiq and Bharkat bhai let the wind catch their flags

It's cool in the morning with a gentle breeze but we know through our past experience that it will get really hot by 9:30-10:00am.

Hakam Singh

Our afternoon halt is at a temple in Aurangabad village where the caretaker of the temple generously allows us to camp and villagers bring us butter milk. Most of the villagers are very happy to have us and wish us all the best in our struggle.

Tulsa bai cooks a lunch of daal batis

Because it gets very hot in the afternoon, we start the second leg of the trek at 4pm instead of 3pm. Despite being in tremendous pain, both Devki Bai and Gulab Bai have taken the task to lead. While Gulab Bai has swollen knees, both of Devki's ankles are swollen.

Gulab Bai is seventy years old and has been affected by the poisoned water around the factory. A resident of Prem Nagar, Gulab Bai has been very active in the campaign, and this is the second time she is participating in the March to Delhi.

At the time of the disaster she was away in her village, but two of her sons who then worked as daily wage earners were severely exposed and have been suffering since. Gulab bai herself suffers from stomach aches, burning sensation and skin problems. She thinks this is due to the poisonous water in her area of residence. An ardent believer in God, Gulab Bai feels that the collective efforts will bear fruits this time and, if they don't, she does not wish to return alive to Bhopal.

Gulab bai receives a massage on her swollen knee

On the other hand, Devki bai used to live in J.P Nagar opposite Carbide's factory at the time of the disaster. While the rest of her family decided to flee the house, she chose to remain indoors along with her two children and use wet cloth because she had heard from someone at the factory that wet cloth really works to protect from the gas.

Devki suffers from breathlessness and pain in her joints so the walk is even more difficult for her. Yet, her only mission in Delhi is to sit on the Dharna and shout slogans at the Prime Minister. A fearless woman, Devki has participated in many rallies before where she has fought the brutality of the police.

She is not scared of the government and police as she believes, being one of the people who elected them, she has a citizen's complete rights on them. Both Devki and Gulab Bai are very happy at being so close to Delhi and feel half the battle is already won and now they only have to focus on getting the demands met by Prime Minister.

Delhi is only 70km away

news of the modest distance delights Shanta bai

Our night halt is at Bahraula village school just 66 km from Delhi. Krishna, one of the local shopkeepers in this village was very sympathetic to our struggle gave us butter milk and kandas (dried cow dung cakes used as fuel).The school building is huge and beautiful and unlike any of the schools in Madhya Pradesh which mostly have one or two rooms and are generally lacking in infrastructure and space. This shows the stark difference in the education infrastructure and facilities of these states. The school also has a pretty decent supply of electricity and water. After a delicious meal of chapattis and vegetables we call it a day and go off to sleep fighting with the mosquitoes.

Day 32 - March 22, 2008

Holi in Hodal

Today is Holi. The day of celebrations! The festival of colours! The festival of endless fun and the day of radiant hopes! The entire group is really excited.

We wake up only after 7 am and treat ourselves to a late morning tea. People are slowly getting into the mode of celebrations and preparations are elaborate. Some of the Padyatris are oiling their hair whilst others are putting on dirty clothes in preparation to play Holi.

We have a short meeting in the morning to discuss the demands and some frequently asked questions on Bhopal. Immediately after the meeting, Holi celebrations start in full zest. People throw gulal (dry colour powder) on each other and hug each other to wish a very successful year ahead.

Devki bai plays Holi

Vikas

For 11 year old Arbaaz and 12 year old Ajay this is the best festival celebration they have ever had. The reason being they are away from home and feel free to do whatever they want without their parents scolding them. They play pranks on almost everyone and surprise people by throwing colours at them.

Arbaaz came to know about the walk through his aunt Nafeesa Khan who is walking for the second time. When Nafeesa told Arbaaz about the Padyatra this year he immediately expressed his wish to join and also convinced his parents to allow him accompany his aunt. Born to gas-affected parents, Arbaaz dropped out of school when he was eight years old because his teacher used to beat him a lot. Since then he has been doing odd jobs at his father's motorcycle workshop. Arbaaz misses his family but feels that the walk is more important and needs more attention; once the walk is done he will go back.

Ajay learnt about the walk through his elder sister Sarita who has been very active with the campaign. He joined the walk a little late because his maternal grandmother was unwell. Unlike Arbaaz, Ajay doesn't miss his family too often and thinks that the task is too important for such sentiment.

When asked what will be the first thing they would request on meeting the Prime Minister, both of them spoke in chorus that they would ask for the Prime Minister's personal mobile number so that if he does not keep his promises this time they can question him on the phone directly.

Irrepressible pranksters Ajay and Arbaaz

Even though Ajay goes to school, once he goes back he wants to join the work of the campaign full time and contribute in the best possible manner. Arbaaz wants to go back and start his education again, but not in school - this time with Sathyu. Ajay suffers from stomach and chest burning sensations, skin problems, pain in the hands and legs.

Both of them are great Hindi films buffs and they prefer cartoons and animations over cricket. They add lot of life to the group with their jokes and pranks. Today, Ajay was so happy playing with colours that he danced for at least four hours non-stop. No wonder he has quite proved his dancing abilities to the rest of us.

Tulsi bai and Shanta bai do the Holi dance

By late afternoon everyone was exhausted, and after a super special meal of bhajiya, pooris, potatoes and kheer (rice pudding), most people went off to sleep. Some of us woke up in the evening or later in the night but it was clear that almost all had gone to sleep with a determination to wake up next morning to resume the walk towards Delhi.

Day 31 - March 21, 2008

Navipura to Hodal

We had to walk only 8kms today to reach our next destination. Tomorrow it's the festival of Holi (festival of colours) and we are all looking forward to the celebrations. It was decided in the meeting yesterday that we would start late; needless to mention that this was a real treat for people who would be up and walking at 4am on a usual day.

Our day started at 6:45am and we covered the whole distance in just 2 hours.

Salim and Fasheem carried out their responsibility to put up posters all along the way up to Hodal with an infectious enthusiasm and persuasion. In fact, in one shop en route, when the shop owner refused them permission to stick a poster they explained the purpose of their mission with such bold conviction that the shopkeeper couldn't refuse them any longer and readily agreed to have the poster on his shop.

Everybody was in a relaxed mood. We were also switching into celebration mode for the big day of Holi. Our stay in Hodal was at an expensive marriage hall. It was huge with two big lawns, an uninterrupted water supply and clean toilets - probably the best place we have stayed in so far. This was a very pleasant and welcome break, plus it was all organised free of cost by the district administration (though only after much persuasion by Vikas and Rachna). Unlike the last Padyatra, this time we have made many district administrations support us and help organise our stay.

As soon as we reached the place the young members of the Padyatra invaded the lawn and started a game of Kabaddi . There were two teams: the boys, and the girls. Once the game started a lot of older women hopped in and, needless to say, the girls' team won. Since there was good lighting and we could not have had a better place for a group photo, we had a photo session right away. Then we settled down to make preparations for Holi celebrations the next day.

Jabbar Khan took the cooking responsibility. Jabbar Khan and his wife Nafisa Khan are second time Padyatris, a significant difference for them from last time is that their two daughters 15 year old Rafat and 11 year old Yasmin are also walking with them this time. Jabbar and Nafisa are not only gas affected but also water affected. Jabbar used to work in the railway yard and he remembers going inside the factory several times on work and witnessing the working conditions inside. He was always skeptical of the factory and his worst fears came true on the day of the disaster.

Jabbar bhai toils away at the day's rotis

Nafisa Khan is originally a resident of Gina village. She was married to Jabbar in June of '84 and moved to Bhopal . She was two months pregnant at the time of the disaster and lost her baby as an immediate consequence. After the disaster Jabbar and Nafisa moved to Gina for 3-4 years for treatment. They returned to Bhopal only in 1988. When they came back they moved to Gupta Nagar behind the factory without realising that they were going to be exposed to the deadly poisons of UCC, the memories of which they thought they had left behind.

Jabbar and Nafeesa

Even though the government had not informed them about the water contamination they realised that there was something wrong with the water because their children began falling sick and remained sick for a long time. Nafisa feels that both her sons are slow learners because of the exposure to the contaminated water. She gets skin rashes, boils and stomach pain very often.

Nafisa and Jabbar are more determined than last time and are even ready to go on a hunger strike to get their demands met. Nafisa sometimes worries about her two sons, who are alone back in Bhopal , but feels reassured when she thinks that neighbours and relatives will take good care of them and therefore she can focus on the mission at hand.

Nafisa and Jabbar's daughter Rafat has to return to Bhopal as soon as the Padyatra reaches Delhi as her exams start on 1 April. She seems confident about her exams even though she has spent most of the time walking.

Yasmin has been exempted by her school this year because she is on the Padyatra. When Yasmin expressed her desire to be on the walk the teachers in the school encouraged her in the task she was taking on and assured her that she would not miss a year. Yasmin enjoys being on the walk with her parents. Though initially she found it tough to walk such long distances and has had several blisters on her feet, she now feels more at ease. She has made several new friends, young and old on this walk. Both Yasmin and Rafat miss home a lot, especially their younger brother - who is not keeping well - and their numerous white pet mice. In the face of every difficulty Yasmin says crisply that she will go back only after meeting the Prime Minister and getting the demands met.

Yasmeen displays her henna arm

In the evening everybody is back on the beautiful lawns playing and frolicking. Tug of war and passing the parcel were the chosen games this time.

Leela bai plays pass the parcel

After dinner the youngsters (mostly the boys) hit the floor to the latest Bollywood numbers. The party went on past midnight.

Day 30 - March 20, 2008

Bilauti village to Navipura

Today we had to walk less than 25 km as the next halt is for Holi, 30 km away at Hodal, which we have to reach by tomorrow. There we are going to stay for two days, spend Holi, and then leave for the last bit of the walk on the 23rd morning.

Gulab Bai must lean on Jabbar Bai to support herself throughout the morning

In the first half of the walk we will come across several major polluting units. Second-time padyatris inform us that the belt from Mathura to Delhi is full of such big units and the pristine countryside that we came across in our last twenty days of walking will be a thing of past.

Within the first six kilometres of our day's walk we come across the first polluting unit of the day – the stinky Chata Sugar Mill Pvt. Ltd which is an Uttar Pradesh Government holding. We could smell the nasty rotten egg odour emanating from the unit at least a kilometre away.

The unit is surrounded by pools of effluent water and from the road we can see piles of waste dumped within the premises. This sight brings up a discussion about the callous handling of chemicals and waste within factories and later the discussion goes toward similar practice by Union Carbide.

After our breakfast halt at a roadside dhaba we crossed several small and big steel manufacturing units, chemical and textile units.

morning chai brings smiles

In most cases we found their chimneys emitting toxic gases. For many of the young members in the group this was the first ever experience of seeing a chemical unit and smoking chimneys from such close quarters. These sights, and especially the fact most of the units were right in the middle of crowded residential localities, sparked off an interesting range of questions in their minds such as – can industries ever be safe? Why does the government allow toxic facilities in crowded regions when they know the implications of such facilities? Why are the industries not located in regions where no one lives?

While we were mulling over these questions we crossed a major Pepsi bottling plant in the area. The sight of the plant answered our questions of drinking water scarcity in the region. Salim Khan, a second-time padyatri, tells us that this is new as they had not come across this plant during the 2006 padyatra. While crossing the plant all the padyatris automatically broke into the song:

Sayeed, who has suffered terrible skin sores throughout, waves the padyatri flag

"Humko lootan ko aa gaye harami log, humko lootan ko,

gaon gaon mein factory khole, factory khol ke jahar banaye,

jahar pilane ko aa gaye harami log,

humko lootan ko aa gaye"

(the bastards have come to rob us, they start factories in every village to manufacture poisons; the bastards have come to make us drink poison, the bastards have come to rob us)

Delhi ever closer

Salim Khan went ahead to the factory gate and handed over a bunch of pamphlets to the watchman, asking him to hand it over to the senior officials. Salim Khan later tells us with a mischievous grin that he gave the pamphlets for senior officials so that they should know their fate.

A second-time padyatri, Salim Khan is walking in great pain. He has recently recovered from a serious accident which badly injured his left leg. Salim Khan came to Bhopal in the early seventies in search of work. He lived in Nariyal Kheda at the time of the disaster. Along with his wife and two children Salim got severely exposed to the gas on the night of the disaster and has been suffering from the ill effects since then. In the late eighties Salim bought a plot of land and moved to Annu Nagar, 5 km north of the Union Carbide factory. Little did he know that the disaster would be repeated once again for him and his family and that they would now be drinking poisoned water because of Union Carbide. Two of his children who were born after the disaster also started keeping unwell because of the poisoned water. The most common ailments that his family suffer are chest and knee pain, skin problems, safed pani (white discharge) among the women and headaches.

Salim Khan is the only breadwinner of the family and since he is on the padyatra now the family is being supported on borrowed money and with the help of neighbours. Every time his family members ask him about his date of return he answers that he will return only once the Prime Minister meets the demands.

Salim Khan is extremely angry at the betrayal by the Manmohan Singh and wants the Prime Minister of India to meet the padyatris and agree to the demands immediately. He is ready to give his life but is determined not to go back empty handed this time.

Our lunch break is at an old abandoned dhaba which had enough drinking water for our needs.

restaurant on the move: the cooking team labour over lunch

After a delicious meal of dal and parathas, people dozed off for a few hours before resuming the remaining bit of the trek.

nary a single padyatri sock has survived the rigours of the road

Four year old Sameer Ahmad was not in a mood to rest, and through his noises and pranks he made sure that most padyatris did not sleep this afternoon.

Sameer weighs up options for mischief

Sameer's participation in the padyatra has been from the vantage of sitting on his father Shameem Ahmad's shoulders. According to Shameem, Sameer suffers from a weak heart and needs expensive treatment for a cure. Sameer lives in Atal Ayub Nagar, which is situated right behind the factory, and is eager to meet the Prime Minister. His demand from the PM is for a big yellow colour cycle with two wheels which, apart from roads, can also run on clouds and water. Sameer wants to ride on the cycle back to Bhopal.

Shameem Ahmad is originally from Kashmir but he moved to Bhopal about forty years ago after a family dispute. Since then he has been doing odd jobs as a coolie (labourer) to support himself and later his family of seven. In 1990 Shameem moved to Atal Ayub Nagar, situated behind the factory. He wasn't aware of the water contamination at that time. He came to know about it only a few years later after his children began falling ill very often. The most consistent problems that his family faces are of skin ailments and stomach pain. A second-time padyatri, Shameem Ahmad's walk is a most difficult one as most of the time his son sits on his shoulders while walking. He feels that this walk is significant as it has shown the government the determination of the Bhopalis, and if the government does not agree to the demands then in the coming days they will see the strength and extent to which we can go to get our work done.

We start our afternoon trek at about 3.30 pm as the weather has begun to cool down and there are indications of rain.

We had just walked about four kilometres when we got caught in a major dust storm followed by rain. We had to take shelter in a roadside dhaba called Krishna Dhaba where the sympathetic owner gave us tea for two rupees/cup (4 US cents) instead of the normal rate of five rupees per cup. Refreshed after the tea and rain, we resumed our walk to the place for the night halt.

Our night halt is at another abandoned dhaba in Navipur village about 8 kilometres from Hodal. This was the place for the afternoon rest during the last padyatra, and the dhaba owner had no difficulty in recognizing us and agreeing to give us the place. The only difference was that the last time we were here this place was running successfully; it has now been shut for about a year.

preparing the night's meal

After dinner we had a meeting in which we mostly discussed plans for celebrating Holi. After a long consultation a menu of kheer (rice pudding), puris and bhajiyas (fried snack) has been agreed upon. We decide to leave late tomorrow since we have only eight kilometres to walk. Knowing that we do not have to wake up at four in the morning, all of us went for a relaxed night of sleep.

some of the youngest padytaris relax before sleep

Day 29 - March 19, 2008

Mathura to Bilauti village

We are slower than normal when we walk after a day's rest. This happened today, too. We started at about quarter past five in the morning and walked about 9 kilometres before our breakfast stop.

Devaki Bai and Gulab Bai have been having difficulty in walking and had to stop several times before completing this stretch.

an exhausted Devaki Bai rests in an unlikely spot

We have found four lane highways better than the two lane ones but now we are told that huge hay laden tractors commute a lot on the stretch between Mathura and Delhi and we should be careful. It has made our trek on this bit of the highway a little difficult.

hay-laden tractors provide a hazard to the walkers

It's hot today and the scorching sun has slowed down the speed of the padyatris even more.

a cup of happy morning chai for Shanta Bai

Hakam Singh is making a brave attempt to walk despite swollen knee and pain in the legs. Hakam Singh came to the Kainchi Chola area of Bhopal in 1979 and used to work as a contract worker in a factory that supplied oxygen and nitrogen to the Union Carbide factory. Hakam Singh was fully aware of what was being manufactured at Union Carbide but had never imagined the impact of any leak of toxic gases from the factory. On the night of the disaster, Hakam Singh informs that it took him a few seconds to realize that the sudden burning sensation of eyes was nothing but a gas leak from the factory. He immediately directed his children to wash their faces with water in order to minimize the effects of the gas. They also stayed indoors instead of running out in the street.

Even though he tried to take all precautions to minimize exposure to the gas, his family still suffers from the harmful effects of it. Most common problems in his family are watering of eyes, breathing difficulties and loss of ability to do any strenuous work. In 1995 Hakam Singh bought a small plot and moved to Prem Nagar behind the Union Carbide factory. His effort for a new beginning was futile as the water in this area is contaminated and soon started showing its effects on the health of the family. After the disaster Hakam Singh lost his ability to do any physical or strenuous work and since then the family income depends completely on earnings from the farm and rent from the room they have sublet in their house.

Like most of the other first time padyatris Hakam Singh also has not ever before walked more than a few kilometres at a stretch. He feels the only reason that he has walked so much, so far and is determined to complete the trek is because the group is supportive and there is a family-like atmosphere here.

The afternoon stop was rough on us as there was very little shade and we tired padyatris had to move from one tree to another for rest.

Haeeb and Fahim sleep without shade

lunch roti labours

In the evening we had to walk about 9 kilometres before the final stop at Bilauti village, 120 km before Delhi.

We tried to contact several schools and colleges on the way before this village but due to the scarcity of water in this area people were reluctant to provide space to us.

The villagers of Bilauti village were different though. We stopped at a temple and the preist there was very helpful. He provided us water for drinking and cooking and firewood too. In fact, he requested the entire village provide us with kanda (dry cow dung cakes used as fuel) and soon we had village girls pouring in at the spot with several kanda. We got at least 400 kanda which will ensure that we will have enough fuel for the next four to five days cooking.

The weather cooled down significantly at night. There was a strong breeze and it felt that it would rain. Two days from now is Holi (festival of colours). Padyatris are eagerly waiting for this day and all sorts of plans for celebrations are being made. We have to walk another 30 kilometres to reach Hodal, where we plan to celebrate Holi. Our day ended on this note.

Day 28 - March 18, 2008

Mathura

It's a day of rest today and even though we had a rest day just two days ago in Agra it has not
stopped the padyatris from resting and relaxing today.

Jakir bhai takes advantage of the rest to remove a tenacious thorn from his foot

Everything proceeded at a lazy pace today, people woke up late, morning tea was at 7.30 am instead of the daily 4.30 am routine and breakfast was late.

luxury!

We had a special breakfast today of fried kachauris (a popular north Indian item).

Raju enjoys the kachauris

Since we are in Mathura today which is also a popular religious place according to Hindu mythology (it is known to be the birth place of Lord Shri Kishna, one of the most famous Hindu deities) most of the padyatris plan to visit the various temples here and the neighbouring town of Virndavan. The plan was to visit these places after lunch.

Barring a few padyatris who were either unwell or had serious pain in the legs, all the padyatris went for the sight seeing. Hazra Bee once again could not go for the sight-seeing as she was down with very high fever and throat infection. She feels she is jinxed as last time she missed out on the fun of sight-seeing in Gwalior for the same reason and now in Mathura. Raeesa Bee and Haliman Bee are also among the few people who could not go as they had severe swelling and pain in their legs.

People returned late in the evening after about 6 hours of tourist tripping. While most of the padyatris were tired some of them were not very happy with the trip as they felt they had too little time to visit the area. Vrindavan apparently has more than five thousand temples, and of course visiting all of them is impossible in 6 hours.

padyatris in Vrindavan

Some of the famous temples opened only after 5.30 pm thus making it difficult for the padyatris to spend more time in there. Moreover it was interesting to know that most of the padatris liked the "foreign temple" the most: later we found that they were talking about the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) temple, which met with their favour because it was the cleanest.

sight-seeing through a broken camera shutter

For 15 year old Salim this was not the most fascinating of touristy trips. He was not too happy with the evening tour as he had to walk a lot and most of the temples were closed. This padyatra is Salim's first ever serious involvement with the campaign. Salim has participated in some of the anniversary rallies because his friends would but had never been a part of the campaign before.

Salim is a bus conductor at a four wheeler service that runs from Karond area in Old Bhopal to Bhopal Talkies. He has been working for a living since the age of 7 and now earns about rupees three thousand a month. He contributes most of his income to the family; when asked what he means by most he adds with a grin that he keeps a small portion of the money for his daily expenses and weekly movies. An ardent movie fan Salim never misses any movie whether it is Hindi or English dubbed in Hindi.

Salim is quite popular among padyatris for his dance, his pranks and his jokes. Salim hadn't informed his parents about joining the padyatra, or packed any clothes from home before starting. He desperately wanted to join the walk and he feels that had he informed his parents they would have denied him permission, so the best way to work it out was to quietly go with the rally and inform them later. It was only at Guna (200 km from Bhopal) that he asked a friend of his to tell his parents and get some clean clothes for him. Salim's employer knew about his participation in the walk and had also promised that Salim won't lose his job once he is back. Salim feels that this was possible as he has been honest and hard-working.

Salim helps Shanta Bai with a leg-press

Salim has taken akeen interest in day to day work during the padyatra. He has also learnt a lot about the Bhopal struggle for justice and wherever possible during halts is seen explaining the photo exhibition to the locals. His favourite job on this walk has been sticking the padyatra posters in various villages and cities. Salim was deeply moved after seeing the film on the last padyatra. He felt a surge of anger after seeing the pictures of police brutality during a peaceful protest in Delhi. He feels that this time in Delhi in an event of similar circumstances he will fight with the police to protect protesters.

It was a late dinner today as members of the cooking team had also gone for sight seeing. We end the day with a good meal of fried masala (spicy) rice and prepare ourselves for the next day's walk.

Day 27 - March 17, 2008

Farah to Mathura

We had to walk only twenty eight kilometres today to reach Mathura. This morning, Delhi is just 175 km away. It has been an incredible journey from Delhi being more than 800 km to just 175 km away. The excitement among the Padyatris about reaching Delhi is so evident that every time we see a milestone giving distance from Delhi there is a shriek of joy. We talk about reaching Delhi in record time like experts and why not, we have walked more than 650 km who else would know better!

In the morning, exhaustion overcomes Munni Bee

7km into the morning start

Some speculate that we can do it in six days while others feel five days are enough. We completely forget for a while that our arrival day is fixed and in between there are a few days off when we are resting during the festival of Holi (festival of colours).

Today we have understood a new meaning to the phrase 'hot weather'. It is so hot that the tar on the road is melting and sticking on our shoes. So, from now on, we have decided to rank the heat in the categories of ‘generally hot' or ‘tar melting hot'!

Enroute we crossed our first big toxic polluting factory called the Mathura Refinery.

We could see the greenish yellow flare from a distance and close to the factory we got an assortment of odours ranging from tar like odour to petrol and sweetish aromatic odours.

trying not to breath at the Mathura refinery

This was one of the five kilometre stretches that we had difficulty in crossing because of the odour of pollution. It was ironical to see the gates of the Mathura Refinery painted with slogans such as ‘clean refinery, green refinery!' This evoked a question in the mind of Padyatris: can any refinery can be clean or green?

We stop for our afternoon halt at a thirty year old temple about ten kilometres from Mathura. This is the only decent place for a halt that had water, shade and some firewood. Even though this place met the requirement it was so close to the highway that the noise on the traffic and the constant visitors to the temple didn't let us sleep.

Samir comforts Munni Bee at the afternoon rest

70 year old Shanti Bai is very happy at the temple stop. A devout Hindu, Shanti Bai is a firm believer in God. At different points in the Padyatra we have seen Shanty Bai bowing her head in respect whenever we have crossed temples.

At the time of the disaster, Shanti Bai used to live with her two sons, two daughters and a daughter-in-law in Kainchi Chola in the northern side of the Union Carbide factory. Her family had moved into this region in search of work in the late seventies. Even though Shanti Bai was not present at the time of the disaster her family was exposed and has been suffering since. Later, in the eighties she moved with her family to Gupta Nagar behind the Union Carbide Factory in hope of better health for her daughter-in-law. She says that the plots in Gupta Nagar were quite cheap those days and so she could afford a house. None of the family members were aware that the water in the region was poisoned.

Shanti Bai today suffers from stomach ailments due to the consumption of poisoned water. A simple and naïve Shanty Bai is walking for clean water and employment.

Shanti Bai dances on the eight day of the padyatra

Apart from the gas and water tragedy, Shanty Bai has also braved the tragedy of her young son committing suicide after being cheated by his co-workers in business. Presently, her younger son and daughter in law support the family by working at odd jobs. Shanty Bai came to know about the Padyatra at the Aaloo Factory meeting and immediately decided that she should join the fight. She describes it as a strange calling. Even though her legs hurt she is one of the fastest walkers on this track along with Shanta Bai. Like others she is also determined not to leave Delhi until the demands are met.

We start walking again in the afternoon. Padyatris are definitely not happy because of the constant disturbance during the afternoon sleep. Fortunately we do not have to walk more than seven kilometres.

Our night stay is once again very close to the highway at a ground floor hall at a hotel called V.K Palace.

The hall is huge and comfortable with clean toilets and good supply of water. It was really nice of the owner to give us this place for the day's rest.

4 year old samir enjoys a bath

Our night meeting ends on a sweet note - mouth watering Pethas! Local supporters in Agra gifted us with Pethas on our stay in the city. Agra is famous for its Pethas which is actually a sweet made from ash-pumpkins.

We are much more relaxed today knowing we don't have to wake up at 5 in the morning. So, cherishing the luxury of having a leisurely sleep, we go to bed. Not to mention, we are equally delighted because 'ab dilli door nahi' (Now Delhi isn't far).

Day 26 - March 16, 2008

Agra to Farah

The days of cool weather and rains are over. And now we were getting the feel of how hot it could get. It was a slow morning today.

leaving Agra before dawn

Delhi is not far off

It always happens to us after a day of rest. Some Padyatris feel that we get too comfortable with rest and get slower than our usual pace. So we should not rest. In their own ways they mean to say- ‘Dilli jaldi Chalo' (lets reach Delhi early).

the padyatra's first bovine member

Folks from Cuddalore and Chennai were also walking with us today. They do not feel the strain of walking at all or so they tell us.

They mention that most of their jobs involve walking or cycling 10-12 km daily. Also, it could not get hotter than what it is in south India. The heat began to make its presence felt by as early as 9:30 am.

sensible local transport

We stop at local dhaba after seventeen kilometers of walking.

a mirchi salad not for the faint of tongue

By then people were so tired that for at least three hours they were dead to the world.

We resumed our walk at about 3 pm for another eight kilometres before halting for night stay at a school in Farah region.

As usual people from Intelligence have accompanied us and keep questioning us - how many people? Where we are going? Why we are going? Are there any foreigners in our group?

By mistake one of them asked if everything was fine with us or if there was anything we needed. We pounced on him with our need for safe drinking water and doctors. He had no response to this and instead started telling us how hard it was to get water in Mathura district. We had heard several stories on our way regarding the water scarcity and now that we were at the school which had two hand pumps, we could only get saline water and that too very less.

In fact Vikas had to go across the road and request a dhaba owner to give us good water for cooking. The school where we were staying was huge with a very big playground. The rundown look of some of its parts became a hot topic for discussion amongst the young boys. They were debating whether it is inhabited by ghosts or not. This subject managed to scare even the naughtiest of the boys in the group. Seventeen year old Haseeb claimed that when he was younger he wouldn't get scared but, after one incident where his friends played a prank on him about a ghost he changed a lot.

Haseeb works in a local shop engaged in weighing and assorting steel sheets of different qualities and usage. He gets about three thousand Rupees a month which he gives to his family for sustenance. This is Haseeb's first ever involvement in the campaign and he feels that it's his duty to go back and give sometime to the campaign to make it stronger. An ardent Salman Khan fan (a popular Indian movie star) Haseeb can rattle of most of his movie names and songs in one breath. Haseeb also likes cricket and after much difficulty decides that Salman Khan's films are better than cricket.

He is eager to go back to Bhopal and see his folks whom he misses a lot. Haseeb lives in Anu Nagar, very close to Union Carbide solar evaporation pond. Needless to mention that it water contaminated area. He has been suffering from serious chest pain and headache as a result of drinking poisoned water. His mother continuously keeps unwell and Haseeb worries a lot about her. Haseeb is preparing himself to engage in a long term struggle in Delhi if the Prime Minster does not agree to our demands.

Cuddalore and Chennai folks had to leave today but they promised to join us in Delhi and organize support actions in their own communities in solidarity with Bhopal.

In the night even the exhaustion and pain could not stop people from getting together and have a blast! Hajira Bi, Meera, Tulsa Bai and Gulab Bai sang many different songs and some of them even danced. Rest of us cheered them and joined in chorus. This is the unfailing spirit of Bhopal!

getting down in Farah

Day 25 - March 15, 2008

Agra

Yesterday the Padyatris couldn't visit the Taj Mahal since it was Friday- an official day-off for visitors. So today everyone woke up with a single point agenda to visit the Taj. It's a day meant to rest but also the day of a press conference in Agra.

Rachna once again is at the task of calling the press. She has obtained a five page Agra press list from the office of District Collector. We were informed that there were several events scheduled for the day and that the response from media may not be great. Hence, we were not very optimistic about the media turn out. Little did we know that we would have more than 15 media people, including popular TV Channels like Sahara Samay, IBN 7 and AAJ Tak.

The press conference went off exceptionally well. Unlike other places, media people in Agra linked the overall implications of struggle in Bhopal to other pollution impacted communities and sought the views of Bhopalis on other burning issues like the nuclear deal.

The supporters from Chennai and Cuddalore were also present in the press conference and the media were in particular keen to know about their reasons for solidarity to the Padyatra.

Cuddaloris and Bhopalis together

Some of the journalists also sought Padyatris' opinion on the reasons for walking for the second time and the extent of international support the Padyatra was getting. Overall it was one of the most interesting press conferences so far.

lunch at Dharm Bhavan, Agra

Later, Padyatris went to see the Taj and to everyone's surprise seventy year old Haliman Bi, one of our slowest walkers, was leading the group in sight seeing.

Haliman Bi was brought up in a pampered and protected environment being the only sister among four brothers. She had never walked more than a kilometre in her life, and she is amazed at her own ability in walking more than 650 km in order to strengthen the fight for justice.

Haliman Bi

Haliman Bi comes from a family of leaders and social workers. Her eldest brother Ayub Bhai was a very kind hearted and sincere social worker who helped many people set up roads, schools and water connection in the area of old Bhopal. Ayub Bhai also helped set up a residential area behind the Union Carbide factory in the nineties which was later named after him- Atal Ayub Nagar. Little did he know that the area he was setting up in the interest of the people would have little but toxin laced water to offer to its residents, having already been converted into a of toxic hotspot by the wastes scattered with and without the Union Carbide factory just yards away.

Haliman bi, herself a resident of this area, was not aware of the contamination till the hand pumps were marked with warnings. Forced by lack of alternate supply she and her family had to rely on this poisoned water. The entire family had been doubly victimized by Union Carbide: at the time of the disaster Haliman bi lived in Shiv Shakti Nagar opposite the factory.

She has shown tremendous courage and will power to walk daily, always in spite of her swollen knees and ankles. She is a cheerful person by nature and keeps smiling, even through pain. The kids in the Padyatra are particularly fond of her and some of them call her dadi (granny) and poke gentle fun at her.

Haliman bi wants to reach Delhi, meet the Prime Minister and explain to him the importance of this walk. When asked what she will do in the event that the Prime Minister doesn't listen, she reiterates with fiery determination- “ladenge jab tak wo manega nahi” (we will fight until he agrees). Hearing this from an old frail woman one can't help but remember the famous slogan – ‘Women of Bhopal are flames not flowers!'

In the evening we gather for the meeting and apart from discussing the logistics we also share our experience of visiting the Taj.

Tomorrow once again we are walking, so we retire early to bed.

Day 24 - March 14, 2008

Baad village to Agra

Today we have to walk only 15 kilometres, 13 to reach Agra and another two to reach the place of our halt.

The foggy weather brings a chilling temperature.

Rachna and Vikas found the place to stay for the padyatris with the help of the Additional District Magistrate of Agra.

Vikas gives Ajju a lift

Both of them compelled the district administration to organize the place to stay after threatening them that if they did not help all the padyatris would come over directly to their office and stay there. The result of this threat was beautiful as we got a huge place to stay with 24 hour electricity and water, all free of cost.

We walked in the most relaxed fashion today. Through our entire stretch today we crossed markets and crowded suburban areas of Agra.

We reached the city at about 9.30 am and had to rest for about an hour before starting the rally from the Pratap Pura Chauraha (crossroad).

About 40 supporters from Bhopal and 9 from Tamil Nadu joined us at this point.

reunited in Agra

Iqbal Khan Khokhar, one of the padyatris who had to leave the padyatra for a few days due to the demise of his mother-in-law, joined us today. Despite the family crisis Iqbal Khan joined the padyatra as for him nothing is more important than the march and the struggle for justice.

Iqbal Khan lived in Bhopal during the disaster but not near the Union Carbide factory. After the disaster his family fled the city to Guna (200 km away from Bhopal ) and returned only after 4 to 5 years later. Iqbal Khan's involvement in politics brought him back to the city. In 2001 he bought a plot and started living at Nawab Colony, right behind the Union Carbide factory. At this time he was not aware of the contaminated water in the area. Today his entire family is affected by the contaminated water, his wife is constantly unwell and so are his children. Stomach pain and skin rashes are the most prominent problems his family faces as a result of daily exposure to water-borne chemicals.

Iqbal Khan like others want to reach Delhi as soon as possible and make all attempts to meet the Prime Minister. He is prepared to even sit on a hunger fast if required to get the demands met.

Other padyatris are very happy to see Iqbal Khan back. A rally (procession) is taken from the Pratap Pura Chauraha, which ironically also has the statue of Rani Laxmi Bai (the warrior queen who ignited the freedom struggle in India against the British in 1857).

The location was apt for our rally and soon the slogans of “ Pradhan Mantri ko batana hai, Paidal Dilli jana hai ” (We have to tell the prime minister, we have to walk to Delhi on foot) started echoing in the streets of Agra.

little Laxmi adds her voice to the chants

youngest padyatri Samir is too tired to sing

Various local newspaper and TV channels came to cover the rally. On the way we were greeted by the local members of Amnesty International.

Our rally reached the marriage hall – Dharm Bhavan – our place for night and next days halt.

a well earned feast

After lunch people started making plans for the sight seeing and visits to local markets. Taj Mahal was of course on everyone's list.

It's a relaxed day today and we have to get back to work with the press conference tomorrow.

Day 23 - March 13, 2008

Hinauta village of Dhaulpur District (Rajasthan) to Baad village (Uttar Pradesh)

Today we start at 5.30 am and have a target of covering at least 26 kms. Agra is quite close and we hope to reach there by tomorrow mid-day. Haleeman Bee once again is in the front with Meera helping her, and the rest of the group follows them.

Haliman Bee and Meera lead

The weather continues to be good. The cloud cover is still there and today we were quite sure that it would rain. The cold breeze of the morning was quite refreshing and despite our pain and blisters we marched ahead singing songs.

The road on this stretch is not that great even though it is the highway. It also rains for a bit in the morning and wherever we stop the locals tell us that it would rain heavily today. Our group is walking slowly as Haleeman Bee has severe pain in her legs and is walking slower than usual. Meera is constantly at her side helping her and encouraging her to walk a bit longer. Meera even stops every few kilometers to make sure Haleeman Bee gets rest.

Meera is a 26 year old survivor. She was 3 when the disaster took place. Her family used to live in a hutment at Qazi Camp on the northern side of the Union Carbide factory. Her parents took her and her siblings and ran for safety at the time of the disaster. Meera's entire family was exposed and has been suffering ever since. She lost her father a few years after prolonged illness. Her mother and sisters are always unwell. One of her sisters, who is 28 years old, is yet to start her menstruations; even Meera suffers from severe abdominal pain occasionally.

Meera is one of the most hard working persons around. She cooks, cleans, helps others cook even though its not her turn, and even fixes the electricity connections for us. She is ever ready to help others in pain or distress. Even though she has a lot of pain and anger within her for the years of injustice she still believes that she should not show it while explaining the demands to the ministers concerned. At the same time Meera wants to burn effigies of Manmohan Singh and Warren Anderson at every traffic junction in Delhi.

Meera rests with Haliman Bee

Meera has been walking in pain with blistered feet; she doesn't want to think about the pain as she feels it would weaken her. She wants to focus on the struggle and is willing to sit for even a waterless hunger strike if required to win the demands from the government. Meera is an apt example of the Bhopali women who are flames not flowers.

On a lighter note Meera also wants to go home to Bhopal soon and meet her friends and eat lots of eggs, one of her favorite foods.

Our afternoon stop is at Prakash Dhaba, an abandoned road side hotel on the highway about 23 km before Agra. A neighbouring dhaba owner offered the padyatris to cook rotis (Indian Bread) for them.

It began to rain quite a bit at this point and the chilliness increased. This was the first time in the entire padyatra when people slept in their blankets during the afternoon break.

The night stop for today was at a primary school in Baad village about 13 kilometers before Agra. The village sarpanch (headman) Mr. Man Singh was extremely supportive to the padyatris. He organized the stay at the school and gave fire wood and at least 20 kilograms of rice . Other villagers also visited us and ensured that our halt was comfortable. The school attendant made sure that the water tank was full for our usage. It was a very cold night due the rains during the day. Padyatris went to bed early in order to prepare themselves for their last leg of walking before reaching Agra the next day.

Day 22 - March 12, 2008

Sarai Chola police station to Hinauta village of Dhaulpur District (Rajasthan)

Today is the day we are reaching, or rather crossing, the notorious Chambal valley. We start late today at about 5.45 am, the reason being that the padyatris are skeptical about crossing the Chambal valley in the darkness.

Despite stories of dacoits in the valley, there is an eager anticipation for the sight of it. It is a beautiful day today, we have a pleasant cloud cover indicating rains at some point of our journey. The breeze is cool and strong and in the quietness of the morning the only sound that one can hear is the scrapping of shoes of the padyatris on the gravel road. There is a beautiful rhythm to this sound.

the march toward the wild ravines of Chambal

Later the padyatris start singing various songs of struggle in Bhopal . “ Le mashale chal pade log hum Bhopal ke… ab andhera jeet lenge log hum Bhopal ke ” (People of Bhopal are now walking with torches and will win over darkness).

After about half an hour of walking we reach the valley of Chambal at dawn. It was the most beautiful sight we had ever seen. The ravines of the Chambal are actually meant for dacoits. The area was lush and green, dotted with farms and villages. We walk in one group with Haleema Bee - one of the oldest padyatris - in front as she walks the slowest, accompanied by the policemen on motorbikes and jeeps.

into the valley of dread...

We stop often to make sure that all are walking together. 17 year old Fahim is walking exceptionally slowly; normally he'd always be in the front of the march but it's not the case today. Upon enquiry we find out that he is too scared to venture into the Chambal valley and wants to be with the police jeep for protection.

Fahim is one of the naughtiest youngsters in the group. He teases and pokes fun almost at everyone and has been scolded several times for this. Fahim's parents and other siblings are gas survivors. He was born 6 years after the disaster and now he lives with his parents at the Vidhwa Colony (Widow's Colony) at Housing Board. Fahim has been working to contribute to the family's income for the past 5 years. He works at a fruit seller cart in the Azad Market of the old Bhopal area. He earns about Rs.1500 ($37) a month. Fahim is fond of cricket and movies. Cricket star Sachin Tendulkar is God for him and he doesn't miss any match in which India is playing. Fahim's friends are quite surprised to see him walk the entire distance as they tell us that he is probably the laziest person in the entire Colony, who would not move from his place even if there was an earthquake or storm.

Fahim struts his stuff in Guna

Fahim got interested in joining the padyatra after he interacted with some friends who have been associated with the campaign for a while. Even though his parents know about him participating in the padyatra his employer has no clue where he is. Fahim is not even scared of losing his job as he owes some money to his employer and feels that he will have to work until the money is repaid. Fahim wants to rest for at least three days after reaching Delhi , once back in Bhopal he wants to catch up with the latest Hindi and English movies dubbed in Hindi and get back to his work.

We cross the Chambal stretch and enter Dhaulpur district of Rajasthan in the morning before breakfast.

crossing the Chambal river

the film crew contemplate the wilderness

leaving the ravines

We walked a total of about 19 kilometers before taking an afternoon break right next to the national highway.

Here there are more police men accompanying us. The policemen are quite perplexed over the entire motives of the padyatra. At one point the padyatris have a slight argument with the policemen when one of them suggests people affected by contamination should shift homes instead of joining the struggle for clean water.

our sceptical escorts

Our night halt is at a primary school in Hinauta village. The head master of the school is sympathetic to our struggle, giving us plenty of rice and dal (lentils). We had our daily meeting and later even screened the Bhopal film for the children and residents of the village.

Day 21 - March 11, 2008

Noorabad to Sarai Chola police station

In the last night's meeting we decided that the entire group would walk together as we would be entering the notorious region of Chambal. Chambal is famous for dacoits and robbers. In fact it has given the world some of the most famous dacoits like Phoolan devi and ManSingh.

Today we walked slowly and two of our slowest walkers, Haleeman Bi and Raeesa Bi, led the walk. Even though our pace was relatively slower we covered quite a decent distance in the early hours. The weather was better than yesterday. It was cool, pleasant with soft breeze and a decent cloud cover. This is the ideal weather for walking. Padyatris were hoping the weather would remain like this till we reached Delhi. Quite wishful thinking though!

Unlike the previous parts of Madhya Pradesh, which were dry and rocky, this place was marked with lush green fields and small streams of freshwater. We were quite surprised at the greenery around. Coupled with the weather the greenery cheered us up and we didn't fear the strain of walking 18 km at all.

We then reached a temple hoping to rest for noon. To our shock the Priest of the temple threatened to beat us up if we cooked anything around the premises. So we had to walk another km and a half before we could rest.

It was in fact good that we walked this distance and rested at Devri Village Balwari (day care centre for children). The residents and Sarpanch (village head ) Mr. Brij Kishore Sharma was extremely hospitable and kind to us. On our arrival we were greeted with small meals of pooris (Indian bread) and rawa halwa (an Indian sweet dish). This was courtesy of Balwari caretaker Ms. Mahadevi. The Sarpanch gave us several kilos of potatoes, tomatoes and plenty of firewood.

A lot of people came forward to hear about our concerns and demands. Despite her ill health and throat pain Hajira Bi patiently explained the chronicle of Bhopal saga.

Hajira Bi is one of the strongest women in the group. A devout Muslim who gave up her burka (veil) after the disaster (when she felt that burka had lost its meaning since she had to go out for a living to sustain herself and her family), she now advocates that no self-respecting women should wear a burka.

Hajira Bi was a member of the stitching self help group started by the government for livelihood generation for women survivors. The self-help group was shut down as suddenly as it was started. Later, Hajira Bi was also a member of Communist Party of India. She left the party after her group was betrayed financially by the senior party members.

Hajira Bi has led a life full of struggle. Soon after the disaster her husband left her alone with her four children. Later she refused to give children's custody to her husband claiming that she would only do it if he would pay her the rent for her womb for nine months and for the years later in which she brought up her kids alone. Shocked and stunned by her courage, her husband never showed his face again.

Hajira Bee rests, undaunted by a severe throat infection

She is a gas survivor and lives in J.P Nagar Colony. She is determined to walk and demand Justice from Prime Minister. Not a woman to mince words she says, 'Ladenge…Jitenge!!'

Since yesterday two policemen were accompanying us as the area is considered very sensitive and crime prone. We halted for the night at Sarai Chola Police Station. We set up our tent in the premises and ignored the monkeys who had definitely once again attracted the attention of everyone in the group. Our day ended with the exciting prospect of seeing the Chambal ravines, crossing the Chambal River and of course sharing the stories about the dacoits in the region.

Day 20 - March 10, 2008

Gwalior to Noorabad

Today we started promptly at 5.00 am, and since we were inside the city we were guided by the street lights until dawn.

It was a fine day and clouds in the sky indicated rain at some point. Wind was cool and strong. Overall, today was a perfect day for walking. During the morning break we bought all the newspapers and were delighted to see the coverage.

padyatris happen to catch their own news coverage in a Dhaba

A few kilometres from Gwalior we again started walking at the National highway, only this time it was a four lane highway with a concrete median in between. This was lot safer than the highway we crossed earlier as now we had to worry about traffic from one side only.

The weather brought in new energy and vigour to walk.

a mini-rail

In fact, this pleasant weather made 53 year old Mohd. Shafeek exceptionally happy. Shafeek was born in Bhopal and worked in a printing press. He used to live along with his family near Rafeeka school on the northern side of Union Carbide factory.

On the night of the disaster his entire family decided to stay indoors instead of running out, and he today considers this to be the reason why he got much less exposed than his friends. According to him, Shafeek Bhai has never walked more than five kilometres in his life. Still, after attending the meeting about the Padyatra and inspired by the determination of the older people he decided to walk more than 800 kilometres.

Shafeek Bhai is not only gas affected: he also became a victim of poisoned water when in 1991 he moved his residence to Bluemoon Colony right behind the Union Carbide factory. Taken unawares, he now lives the daily horror of Union Carbide's poisons. His entire family complains of stomach pain, watery eyes and skin problems. His elder son was four years old when he was exposed to the gas and he continues to be constantly unwell.

Shafeek Bhai has had a tough time during Padyatra and is in constant pain in his leg, has been cough, and couple of times he has also had a fever. Despite all of this he has resolved to complete the March and go back home only once the demands are met. Shafeek Bhai feels that the joined effort in fighting for justice through the Padyatra will strengthen the campaign and will also bring people together.

On a lighter note, when asked what he misses, Shafeek Bhai informs with a grin on his face that apart from his two year old grandson he misses Chola Bhatura (chickpeas, gravy and puris). He wishes to catch some on reaching Delhi.

Jabbar Bhai tends to his wife's swollen knee at the end of the day

Day 19 - March 9, 2008

Gwalior

Today was the day off for us. We were staying at a sports complex called Tarun Pushkar of Gwalior Municipal Corporation. This was located next to the famous Captain Roopsingh Stadium.

A press conference was scheduled for the afternoon, after which we intended walking at least 3-4 km.

People woke up late and were generally more relaxed. Most of the Padyatris were busy washing clothes as this was one of the few places where we had no shortage of water.

Meanwhile, Rachna was busy making calls to media people for the conference. We were quite skeptical about the turn out of press as the place was new to us and also because it was Sunday, when journalists generally enjoy a non-working day. Rachna managed to get the press contacts from the government Public Relation Officer and we hoped for a good turn out. To our surprise around 24 journalists from different media houses arrived at the conference. Prominent press among them included Sahara Samay, Zee News, NDTV, almost all Hindi dailies and some English dailies.

Irfan Bhai, Rashida Bi and Sathyu addressed the conference.

There was lot of curiosity and interest about the Padyatra and our demands. Overall, the conference went very well.

Besides the Press response we were also pleasantly surprised at how popular Rachna had become with the media there. In fact, some of the journalists even refused to start the conference without her.

Rachna receives the news of her popularity

The Padyatris were also jubilant at the media's reaction. That Sahara Samay immediately started relaying the news was a testimony to the overwhelming media response.

Leela Bai feels that spreading news through the media is the best way to get heard and she was really happy at the coverage we have received so far. She herself addressed the press conference at Guna and Shivpuri where she spoke very powerfully about the status of existing health care facilities for survivors and need for better ones.

A small, thin woman in her forties, Leela Bai is a cheerful person ever willing to lend a helping hand to anyone at any time. When not walking she is mostly seen helping out the cooking team.

Leela Bai was in her twenties when she was exposed to the gas. She still shudders at the mere thought of the sight she witnessed on the morning of 3rd Dec 1984. This isn't the first time Leela Bai is walking to Delhi but she feels that this time she will not be fooled by false promises from the Government and will return back home only once the demands are properly met.

Leela Bai

She had a six month old daughter at the time of the disaster, who now like her now faces several health problems. Her husband was also exposed to the gas and had lost the ability to do any kind of physically strenuous activity. Not to mention the financial constraint that the family has to suffer considering the loss to income and huge medical expenses.

This frail looking woman's determination to walk for the second time, braving all odds with a steely resolve, great sense of humour and wits is an inspiration to all of us!

The Padyatris rested for the day. Those who were tired slept through and later got oil massages while others went out for sight seeing. They visited the fort, the famous Palace, museum and local markets.

who will blink first?

After the conference we had our own meeting and, given that most Padyatris were extremely tired, we decided to spend the night at the same place and leave next morning.

exhaustion telling on Haliman Bee and Zarina Bee

Supporters who had come from Bhopal left late at night and all of us got to bed to get some rest before another gruelling day begins!

Day 18 - March 8, 2008

Ghati Gaon to Gwalior

Today was a long track. We had to at least cover minimum of 32 kilometres to reach Gwalior from Ghati Gaon. We were to be joined there by supporters from Bhopal.

Even though we woke up at 4:00am, our walk commenced only at about 5:45 am- almost forty five minutes later than the scheduled time. Reason for this delay being the late morning tea! The first ten kilometers was a forest area and valleys with roads narrower than usual. We walked in one line to ensure we were safe.

Of course this could not keep us from enjoying the pleasant day with its cool breeze. In the early morning hours, apart from the most familiar sound of peoples' shoes scraping the ground, we could hear the birds and this was a treat for us!

People were excited and eager to reach Gwalior. We walked for at least 11 km before breakfast. Our afternoon rest was scheduled to be only after having covered 19 km. The place where we halted for lunch was a small grove.

The place had historical significance. It was called Bela ki baawadi (Bela's step-in-well- Bawadi's are wells with stairs inbuilt to walk into.) Bela was the daughter of Gwalior king Prithvi Raj Chauhan. And after her marriage dola (wedding procession) stopped at this place, a baawadi (step-in-well) was made for her. That is how the place got its name- Bela ki baawadi. Water from the well was very cool and refreshing.

Sathyu hauls up water from the bawaadi

There was also a temple and a mazaar (muslim's place of worship) where once a week a congregation of both Hindus and Muslims gather for worship.

Here we also saw Peepal tree groves that are thick and can provide shade for ever