Q. When did the idea of Bhopal — A Silent Picture strike you?
A. I was exposed to what the gas leak really was like during the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. We were covering it as commissioned by the BBC. That is when I understood the tragedy, beyond the numbers. I am not a photojournalist but the sensory part of it stayed with me. The Union Carbide plant is sealed but the scale of the tragedy hits you once you are in the heart of it, inside the factory. That night, thousands went to the railway station as we were told then. All my childhood, I travelled across India via trains. Imagine being gassed in a train compartment! It must have been like the gas chambers during World War II. That image connected with me.

Bhopal — a Silent Picture is a public art installation by artist/photographer Samar Singh Jodha. It pays tribute to the Bhopal gas leak that had thousands of casualties.  Pic courtesy/Samar Jodha

Q. Thus, the idea of the 40-feet installation...
A. That’s how the container took shape. Bhopal, before the gas leak, used to be colder at the time and once you enter the container, the temperature drops to a single digit, and there are 3D images of the plant itself. We also did many recordings at the plant in the night, which includes sounds of crickets and from nature that abruptly end with a person gasping for breath. In 2012, Dow Chemicals was the key sponsor of the London Olympics and there came a point when they wanted to put some sort of art around the main stadium.