In December of 1984 there was a large-scale gas leak at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. More than 600,000 workers were affected to high levels of methyl isocyanate and over 20,000 people died from this disaster. Nearly forty years later and the people of the area are still feeling the effects of this tragedy.

Indira Iyengar, founder of MSK, began working with the families affected by the gas leak in 1992 to help them create a sustainable livelihood. She would visit the camps to disperse food and clothing to victims and would listen to their stories. Eventually the women banded together and decided to start their own company. Their first project was given to them by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to block print fabrics using only natural dyes. This became the way of MSK and has fueled their 'no chemicals' campaign; a campaign to reintroduce the art of dying without the harmful additives of unnecessary chemicals.

Check out the StoryMap here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/461db9f09d1042f5819171e14fc40639

• Aanya Hassanand [India - Ashoka University]
• Rose Slocock [Ireland - Trinity College Dublin]
• Brooklin Williams [United States - Wesleyan University]
• Xiyan Zhu [United States - Columbia University]