at September 29, 2005 8:35 AM“inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina… 18 inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th)…. 37.1Ponder on that for a bit, will ya?population of new orleans… 484,674
population of mumbai…. 12,622,500deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina…100
deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37.
WRONG! Death toll in Mumbai was 1000 and rising still…
Correction: The email lists only deaths in the first 48 hours, which is I guess an ingenuous way to avoid the total death toll numbers - still, the first 48 hours’ death toll in Mumbai seems to be about 421 per Snopes Forums where I got the MSNBC link from.number of people to be evacuated in new orleans… entire city..woh ho
number of people evacuated in mumbai…10,000Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans…Countless
Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONETime taken for US army to reach new orleans… 48hours
Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai…12hoursstatus 48hours later…new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty
status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usualUSA…world’s most developed nation
India…third world country..oops…did i get the last fact wrong???
Well Done Mumbaikars (Indians) “
Let us think about this a minute and get a few more facts in -
# of feet of water NO was under - 20 (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/29/hurricane.katrina/)
# of feet of water Mumbai was under - how about “over” 5 feet?
Winds that hit NO and Mississippi - upto 155 MPH as a CAT 4
Winds in Mumbai - upto 73 MPH as a cyclone
NO is below sea-level.
The total SQ.footage destroyed by Katrina - more than size of Great Britain, i.e., greater than 216,777 SQ. KM - this is of course, almost 2/3rds of the entire state of Maharashtra (307,690 SQ. KM)
Do you now see how incredibly stupid this argument is?
Wanna talk about facts? How about a few more inconvenient facts that these nincompoops try to forget with their selective amnesia…
Death toll in tsunami in India - atleast 14000
This is of course, not taking into account the deaths that happen every time some religion decides to beat up on another religion or when a “giant tree falls” and innocent people are massacred just because they belong to the wrong religion.
Now do you see how pointless this argument is? People who take the opportunity of a disaster to advance their agendas - regardless of their nationality, color, creed and bias are worse than the vultures that feed on the dead. You want to score points? Do it on an even plane. A graveyard is a place for sympathy - not a place to argue or debate or jump up and down about how great you are and what a cool country you belong to. You people disgust me and make me sick!
One last thing to remember is that when you guys had the tsunami, this country’s private citizens and companies poured in millions of dollars in charity…talk to me when you can match them if not top them in generosity.
p.s. If this had been an American friend circulating a similar email during the tsunami or some such, I would have been equally disgusted and my reaction would be equally strong!
p.p.s. I guess I am not the only one -One of our readers, Dilip has this to say about this email - “I think the whole comparison to begin with smacks of an idiot with some convoluted notion of superiority over how a country manages disaster of unequal magnitude…self-evidently stupid if i can put it that way”
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Your postscript wasn’t necessary. Your argument is entirely justified on its own without any kind of caveats or riders. That email is brain-dead. period.
Posted by: Dilip at September 16, 2005 1:41 PM
One last thing to remember is that when you guys had the tsunami, this country�s private citizens and companies poured in millions of dollars in charity�talk to me when you can match them if not top them in generosity.
Ok now I have to take issue with this :-)
This is not a good point to make. Every country contributes to the extent she has resources whether its monetary or logistical or medical or whatever. For Katrina if I am not mistaken India donated $5 million to Red Cross which I think is the largest by any soverign country (I am not counting private parties here). You see India has now proved it can handle disasters without getting caught in red tape in the aftermath of the Tsunami.
None of this however invalidates your post. That email still deserves universal condemnation.
Posted by: Dilip at September 16, 2005 1:49 PM
You should mention that THERE WERE NO CASES of Diarrhoea after Tsunami where 14000 people were dead…..
infact Tsunami was a totally unprepared phenomenon compared to the cyclone which was fore warned
Posted by: Bruno at September 21, 2005 1:44 PM
Hello,
Why do I feel that most blogs authored by people from India are very tirade like? Especially, I found many blogs authored by US residents of Indian origin to be full of a cause. A cause - it appears to me - that is not exactly altruistic, but is like a steam vent.
Meanwhile, your ennumeration of facts was helpful - though it is easy to suspect something like that.
I will watch this post/comments for your response. Alternatively, you could also email me at sachindole AT yahoo DOT com
Posted by: Sachin Dole at September 28, 2005 4:01 PM
Sachin, I personally think my blog is a way I can express feelings that I cannot normally in the regular world (which is my workplace for the most time). This is my mouthpiece and my podium, so I guess I don’t say something unless I feel it has to be said…
Posted by: shanti at September 29, 2005 8:35 AM