The Prisoner of Bhopal
Ten-year-old Amil is snatched away from his family to work for Mr Kumar, a printer, due to a debt of honour supposedly owed by his family, but which was previously completely unknown to him. Kumar’s factory is run down and he has had to sell his printing press, so Amil does endless paperfolding and deliveries along with Kumar’s daughter Chunni, who is also exploited. It’s 1984, but the story has a feel of being set in an earlier time, primarily due to the conditions and circumstances in which Amil is held.
In the attic where he is condemned to live, Amil encounters the ghost of his great-grandfather who emerges from a pile of rags and reveals what he did during World War One that has unjustly resulted in punishment for his descendants. He also discovers his inherited gift of knowing which way the wind will blow. Historical parallels are drawn with poisonous gas and its effects during World War One and the more recent disaster in Bhopal, India.
Amil’s Uncle Ravi visits him regularly, keeping a link with his family who have had to move away to become farmers. Ravi works in the pesticide factory which looks like the future for local employment but he knows how dangerous it could be if even a small thing goes wrong. Through Ravi we learn what led to the Bhopal disaster as falling sales of pesticide prompted dismissal of the factory’s safety officers to save money.
The novel builds a picture of life in Bhopal prior to the catastrophe that inspired the author to enquire more deeply and write this novel for young people to raise awareness of how, as he says in an afterword, ‘western companies still put profits before the health and safety of local people.’
