Did we really take away 6 hours from Mr Obama’s life?

Mumbai: The foreign media was in a spin over what to make of US President Barack Obama’s second India visit, a historic one at that as he became the first US prez to be chief guest at our Republic Day celebrations.

While a long-hamstrung nuclear deal was passed and much stress given to Indo-American economic and strategic partnership, American scribes were very worried that their President might have lost six hours of his life by inhaling Delhi’s toxic air!

This thoughtful article picked on Delhi’s “acrid” fog when Air Force One descended on Sunday and also stated Obama sat in another “haze” while he watched the Republic Day extravaganza. True. Guilty!

The article reports, “Delhi has the world’s highest levels of PM2.5 – tiny, toxic particles that lead to respiratory diseases, lung cancer and heart attacks”. It further states, “During Obama’s three-day visit, PM2.5 levels in Delhi have averaged between 76 to 84 micrograms per cubic meter, according to data collected by India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences. The U.S. leader is set to depart on Tuesday for Saudi Arabia. Those levels translate roughly into an estimated loss of 2 hours a day in life expectancy, said David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, who specializes in quantifying risk in a way that is understandable to the public.”

“That’s roughly 8 cigarettes a day,” Spiegelhalter said… “I think Delhi is a wonderful city, but this pollution is harming its residents.”

Well, we are thankful that India and the U.S. will start “new joint projects to improve air quality in Indian cities”. Incidentally, the U.S. is the world’s second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter, while India is third.

The ‘name’ suit

Much has been said about Narendra Modi’s pin-striped suit, where the pin stripes were not a solid line but letters spelling Modi’s name. Foreign media has speculated whether the bespoke suit was from Saville Row or whether it could have cost upwards of 10,000 pounds.

Read: PM Modi wears suit printed with his own name during Obama visit

Or, whether the Prime Minister’s suit should be screaming, “Don’t you know who I am?”, when everybody “knows” he is the Prime Minister.

They were also quick to point out that Modi “had not broken any fashion ground”. Former Egyptian head of state Hosni Mubarak had also worn a ‘name’ pinstriped suit in 2011.

Well, what can we say? Even Barack Obama was forced to admit that Modi was a “style icon”.

The lingering hand-hold

The foreign media has also noticed Narendra Modi held Barack Obama’s hand a little too long after a shake! They pontificate whether this lingering hand-hold is not a “new diplomatic weapon in his war to tighten ties with the United States”.

The Americans have been noticing with interest Modi’s ‘mwah mwahs’ with foreign leaders. A report says Modi used an enthusiastic bear hug with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he sat on a swing with Chinese Present Xi Jinping, and with Australia’s premier Tony Abbott, it was a selfie.

This is what an article had to say: “A great showman, Mr. Modi broke protocol and welcomed Mr. Obama as he stepped off Air Force One in New Delhi Sunday with a hearty handshake, a big hug and another handshake. Then he got hold of the U.S. president’s right hand with his left and held on for an unusually long time.

As the handholding dragged on, Mr. Obama tried to counter by putting his other hand over the hand he had lost to Mr. Modi and give it a good solid “this is the last shake” shake, but the enthusiastic Mr. Modi did not let go for close to 30 seconds.”

The report says Indians are like that only! “Unless he wants to distance himself from Mr. Modi, President Obama should not be worried, anyone that has good friends in India knows that a bit of lingering hand holding is just a way to show affection, not unlike grabbing someone’s shoulder after a handshake and shaking it to demonstrate you are particularly happy to see them.”

Well, the visit is over. And, we are sure both Indian and American journalists have had a good time these three days.