Life at the highways!

Truck driver Bramhadin Singh’s family did not celebrate Holi this year because of the untimely death of a young nephew. But just a day later, there Holi could not have been more colourful. Bramhadin Singh and the whole village are rejoicing at the achievement of Singh's youngest son Rinku, whose giant heave of 87 mph won him $100,000 and possibly a fruitful career in the US playing baseball. This small village on the Varanasi-Allahabad highway has no idea of course what baseball is.

But Singh, who has spent most of his life on the highway, and now makes ends meet with the salaries sent by his two elder sons in the Indian forces, Rinku’s breakneck throw is a godsend.

Rinku’s mother Antaraja Devi said, “My seven children have been brought up in penury. Sometimes we went to bed without dinner. But Rinku, who we didn’t think would become anything, has ended up my most talented son.” She recounted that the family’s first choice for their two elder sons Raj Kumar and Ratnesh was not the armed forces. “They are serving at the borders of West Bengal and Pakistan, but we needed the money,” Antaraja said, at pains to hide her tears. “But Rinku has taken care of all that,” she added.

Bramhadin has ferried truckloads of cement from Renukoot in Sonebhadra to Nepal for 35 long years, and is happy Rinku will now play “busball” in the US. He even didn’t know what sport Rinku specialised in — javelin. To him, his youngest was a “bhalla phenk” player. Rinku was selected to the Lucknow Sports Hostel last year and won a silver medal at the Junior National Athletics Championship held in Vijaywada in November, 2007.

Outside their single-storey, three-decade old house, jubiliant villagers play Holi to drum beats. The family has also erected a makeshift press box to welcome the media, which has descended in droves on this village situated 65 kilometre from both Varanasi and Allahabad.

“Our third brother Rajan, who is a middle and long distance runner is enrolled at the Meerut Sports Hostel. He was very keen that we entertain scribes,” said Rinku’s Army jawan brother Raj Kumar, distributing barfis and samosas to the tribe present.

Most media people, who were floundering to find the village, only had to mutter “one lakh dollars” even at dhabas far from Rinku’s home. They were guided to the village in no time.

Among the crowd one finds Vipin Kumar Singh, who had inspired Rinku four years ago to take up javelin throwing.

“The elders here have always looked down upon men and women who want to take up sport. You never know; American baseball players might visit this village now in search of talent,” he said.

Antaraja dreams of a big house. She was told by Rinku’s friends that her son plans to buy a swank car for his parents.

“Let him come home first,” she smiled.

But Bramhadin is looking forward to the car. “It will be a change from my rickety truck,” he said.

Life at zoo

While elephants are often one of a zoo's top attractions, a new report charges that their level of care often falls short of star treatment. In a study released this week, the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said elephants in European zoos are often unhealthy, endure considerable stress, and have a much shorter life than their counterparts in the wild.

Their condition is frequently even worse than that of elephants in Asian timber camps, alleges the RSPCA, which is calling for wide-ranging changes in the way zoo elephants are treated.

In the meantime, the group says, European zoos should stop importing and breeding elephants.

The RSPCA, based in Horsham, England, said it commissioned the study after several high-profile cases of elephant mistreatment, including one in which electric prods were being used to train elephants at a British zoo.

The authors collected data on births and deaths from a studbook of elephants at European zoos to assess life expectancy and infant mortality. Studbooks catalogue the family history of animals in captivity, especially to help prevent inbreeding.

The studbook spans 40 years of births and deaths for African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) and nearly 100 years for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in European zoos. An estimated 500 elephants are now in zoos across Europe, from Belfast to Paris.

The researchers also reviewed more than 100 elephant studies published since 1960, as well as 500 studies on stress biology and the welfare of other captive animals.

The findings from the demographic data startled the researchers. They found that Asian elephants in European zoos typically live about 15 years, only half as long as elephants in timber camps. Asian elephants can live as long as 65 years in the wild, the researchers said.

Rebecca Hawkes, a spokesperson for the RSPCA, said the extensive study "provides compelling, substantiated information that leaves no doubt that elephants' welfare is compromised in European zoos."