Why is India Closing Schools for Swine Flu?

by Alanna Shaikh · 2009-08-12 09:41:00 UTC
Topics:

(photo credit: Meanest Indian)

BBC reported today that schools in Mumbai have been closed to prevent the spread of swine flu. And not just schools - schools, universities, and movie theaters. Basically, everywhere in the city that young people tend to congregate.

It's a weird choice. India's not getting hit all that hard by swine flu. Sure, they've got a pandemic, but their death rates aren't unusually bad. They're seeing the same kind of swine flu that everyone else is. They've got a lot of young people in their population, but so does most of the developing world. The whole planet is facing the same risks. India doesn't have special extra-deadly swine flu.

So what gives? I think it's Bollywood. The Mumbai film industry is an economic driver of the India economy, a source of national pride, and vital connection to the global Indian diaspora.  Mumbai is also India's commercial capital, so it's like New York and LA all rolled up in one teeming city. One teeming megacity surrounded by desperate slums. (You saw Slumdog Millionaire, right? It was not an exaggeration. And if you haven't seen it, you really should.)  And megacities are especially at risk for swine flu.

You don't put your national pride and glory at risk when you can close a few buildings and protect yourself. If three days of no school and no movies are all it takes to keep Bollywood from a raging sweep of disgusting virus, then, well, New Delhi's going to go for it.

As for the question of whether closing schools actually prevents swine flu? That's a post for another day...

Alanna Shaikh
PREVIOUS STORY:
Daily Darfur: The Upper Hand on Hope
NEXT STORY:
Campaign about Apple Factories in China Gains Wide and Diverse Support

COMMENTS (2)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.