Howrah Bridge Is Falling Down

A lot of printer's ink, cyber space, airtime and reams of paper have been used to describe how we Indians fail so miserably on the civic sense front. Even cities in other third world countries like say Colombo look a lot more cleaner than many of our metros.

Indian men's habit of chewing paan and other tobacco supplements like gutka and spitting around with gay abandon has painted many a town red. Their leaky bladders, which would put even dogs to shame, and their tendency to treat every wall as urinal has ensured that we are never too far from its reeky stench.

However so far we all thought this only takes a toll on aesthetics of a city or village and is an assault on our sense of sight and smell. But a recent report I came across was, quite literally, an eye opener.

Engineers say that the metal structure of Kolkata's landmark Howrah bridge is in danger due to relentless onslaught of gutka loaded spit. They said that "the struts supporting the girders of the bridge had already lost half of their metal casing: The corrosion was apparently caused by acids in the gutka."

The report said that to increase gutka’s  shelf life magnesium carbonate – which is used in fire extinguishers and is a known carcinogen – is added.

Hence there is more to paan and gutka than meets the eye(sore).

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Lance Armstrong's Dope Shame

Ever since he decided not to contest the dope taint complaint in August last year, it became clear that cyclist Lance Armstrong had many skeletons in his closet. But even then many of his loyalists had felt that the guy has been unfairly hounded by authorities for too long and he was fed up. After all the seven-time Tour de France winner was never officially caught for doping, though allegations shadowed him all along.

Finally he admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs and that too in America's most visible confessional chamber - The Oprah Winfrey show. In the first part of the interview he admitted taking drugs to win all the Tour de France titles and called himself a 'flawed character'. To many of his admirers, especially those battling cancer and see him as role model, it was a moment of deep disillusionment. Whatever residual hope they may have had about his innocence got snuffed out.

In his overriding ambition to script a perfect American dream myth, he won the first battle - against testicular cancer - quite honourably, but took recourse to a venal path to win the most punishing event in the modern sporting arena. Tour de France participants have to pedal a distance of 3,497 kilometres covering stretches of Italy and Switzerland, in addition to France. The route passes through mountainous stretches of Pyrenees and Alps.

The seven-time winner admitted that his illustrious feat would have been humanly impossible without doping and he did not ‘invent’ that culture. One cannot dispute him as the Tour is scarred by a long list of dope cheats and the recent ones include Tour winners such as Armstrong's compatriot Floyd Landis (2006) and Spaniard Alberto Contador (2010). But they all got punished, whereas this guy all through these years managed to take doping authorities and his hero-worshipping fans for a ride. And even now his so called confession looks more like a selective leak. He argument is based on the premise that since everyone was doing it, there was nothing wrong in what he did.

Quite predictably it created a commotion in the sporting world. 'Djoker' Novak Djokovic, more known for his horseplay on tennis court, was perhaps the most vociferous in his comments and wanted all of Armstrong's titles taken away and added that he should suffer for his lies. Former basketball legend Magic Johnson lamented that Armstrong has let down the sport and fans, but commended him for 'couragesouly coming forward' to admit his guilt.

Perhaps the person who ought to feel the most vindicated was David Walsh, chief sports writer for Britain's The Sunday Times, who has been pursuing Armstrong ever since he won his first Tour in 1999. He reportedly sat glued to television, though the interview was telecast in Britain at 2 am.

Walsh lauded the witnesses he spoke to in his years of investigation into Armstrong and who were vilified for telling the truth. The newspaper also stood by Walsh all these years. 

Armstrong had sued The Sunday Times and in 2006 the newspaper settled the case for more than $500,000 after spending more than $1 million in legal fees. They quite rightly now want the money back - with interest.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Blood On The New York Subway

While the Indian media was fixated about the Delhi rape and issues related to safety of women, a brutal hate crime on December 27 involving an Indian man in US went under reported. A 46-year-old man was shoved in front of a subway train in New York by a woman, who appeared to be mentally deranged.

Sunando Sen was pushed from behind onto the tracks and was crushed by an incoming train. Probably in his eagerness to board the train, he was standing close to the tracks. The woman fled the station but was later tracked down based on a black-and-white video footage that was broadcast on news programmes. Someone who spotted her called up the police. Despite her mental illness she had enough sense to flee the scene after the attack.

Police claims the woman, Erika Menendez, had selected her victim because she believed him to be a Muslim or a Hindu. She told police that “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims and ever since 2001, when they put down the twin towers, I’ve been beating them up.”

She also did not show any remorse at her arraignment, laughed uncontrollably and said that she did not regret her actions.

Menendez has a history of run-ins with the police. She was arrested at least twice on misdemeanour charges related to violence. Her family members have also called the police several times about her erratic behaviour and mood swings, including once when her mother reported to police that she was “threatening to harm herself and others.”

She was arrested on charges of possessing cocaine and marijuana, using a stolen credit card, harassment and assault.

In 2003 she had attacked a firefighter and he said her punch was strong like a 'guy punch'. He did manage to overpower her and hand her over to police.

Sen has been in the US for the past 16 years and after years of struggle had recently managed to set up a printing and copying business near Columbia University. He was a bachelor and was staying with three other immigrants. His friends describe him as a quiet person and his Muslim roommate said that he admired the respect Sen showed for those who saw the world differently than he did.

Indian media's compulsions are understandable, but I am surprised the Indian community in US too seems to have not yet taken up this issue. They had gone ballistic on a Time magazine article written in jest by Joel Stein on Indian immigrants at Edison, a New Jersey suburb, and had forced the magazine to issue an apology. But seem to be maintaining a deafening silence over a far more serious issue.

The textual diarrhea prone internet Hindus too seem to be very rationed in their outpourings. And Indian government which went on an overdrive when some Indian students in Australia were attacked and when a Indian doctor there was held for terrorism charges, is yet to open its mouth on this issue.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat