Bhopal

Bhopal is best known for the 1984 toxic-gas leak at a Union Carbide chemical plant, which killed an estimated 20,000 people and injured thousands more. Perhaps for this reason, the city has been slow to develop as a tourist destination. It's a pretty city centered by two tree-fringed lakes—as evening approaches, a string of little sunken fountains around the edges of the lakes spout flumes into the air, adding whimsy to the scene while aerating the water. Bhopal is also a nurturing ground for the study, composition, and performance of Urdu poetry; readings draw the kind of crowds you'd expect at a pop concert.