Dhoni and his Hummer

I guess it was a week back, I was in the gym burning a few calories on the treadmill. This was one of those treadmills that has a TV attached to it and while flipping channels, I happened to see this news of Dhoni unabashedly driving around in his latest acquisition , "A Hummer". As is the case on most occasions nowadays, the same news was on other news channels as well, with the same pictures of him having a car in front and a few in tow. I went like "Wow".

Now, I have tremendous respect for Dhoni. He has a tremendous cricketing sense, has a lot between his ears and does not fear about calling a spade a spade. With him at the helm, I believe India will win more matches than we lose (I say this despite, the recent debacle in the 20-20 World cup). Players like him are icons, and the younger generation look up to such icons. This is especially true, since he comes from a small town like Ranchi (I know its a state capital, but then its not Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkatta) and just demonstrates the art of the possible in new age India.

But I must say, by driving around in a Hummer without any compunctions, he is setting a very poor example to the youth in this country, who aspire to be Dhonis and Tendulkars of tomorrow. This, for the simple reason, that a Hummer represents everything that's wrong with the way the Americans live their life. Its big, ugly and boy, "Does it guzzle!!!". By just using it, Dhoni just increased his Carbon-Footprint many-fold, more so with the security that these folks have with two cars in front and a few in tow, to ensure that the Captain of Team India is safe and sound. But, what it does more than anything else is, it sets the bar on the aspirations of the entire nation, a nation full of young people. Imagine "India's Demographic dividend" aspiring to own a Hummer. Indians on an average have a Carbon footprint of about 3-4, while Americans have a Carbon-Footprint of about 12. It means that, if all the world starts living like Indians, then we would need 3-4 earths to live (apply the same argument to Americans and you see why its dangerous to aspire to live like them). This Carbon-Footprint of 3-4, however hides some crucial facts. It is at 3-4 because, so much of India lives in the villages and so much of it is just plain poor. As these people start becoming upwardly mobile, the average carbon footprint of Indians is bound to increase. It is thus imperative upon us, to get development to the "have-nots" without increasing this Carbon footprint any further or to take the argument even further, get it to around 1. By owning a Hummer and driving it, Dhoni and the TV channels that are airing this news repeatedly, are doing a disservice to the nation and to Mother earth, for the way forward for a young country like India is to not repeat the mistakes that the Americans made, but to imbibe concern for the environment during the process of becoming a developed nation.

Guess what, to reinforce what I said, I read a news in the papers today that, now even Bhajji, is a proud owner of a Hummer!! Talk of setting an example !!