Vijender Singh : Working Class Hero

Will drugs and controversy nail Vijender Singh?

The shocking story of Olympic boxer Vijender Singhs alleged heroin use reminds me of an American TV show I finished watching recently. Breaking Bad follows a high school chemistry teacher whos diagnosed with stage three cancer and has two years to live. His son has cerebral palsy,his finances are a mess but his anxiety to leave his family provided for drives this mild-mannered teacher into the drug trafficking business. The show is so absorbing because it portrays how everything we stand for morals,values and ethics are based entirely on circumstance. In this case,an impending death knell releases a man from the constraints of normal society and this regular family guy rises to become a millionaire kingpin of the drug trade.

Singh had no death knell,instead he had endorsements,money,fame and a star status that comes from being one of a tiny handful of Olympic medalists in India. He should have enough perspective,being the son of a bus driver who worked double shifts to pay for Singh and his brothers boxing training. Even if his career had seen better days its been pretty fantastic so its difficult to understand what may have led him to experiment with something as lethal as heroin. Singh has enough will power,as competing at a top international level requires endurance and tremendous focus. While a scary number of professional athletes succumb to performance enhancing drugs,people whose careers depend on their fitness tend to embrace healthy habits. And you would imagine,stay far away from drugs. Thats why you almost believe Singh when hes quoted saying he thought it was a food supplement.

Drugs have been around in popular culture forever. Jim Morrison sang an ode to heroin in the 60s while 90s fashion was all about decadence,looking used up,worn out and wasted. Trainspotting ,the uncomfortable and compelling film on drug use in Scotland has long enjoyed cult status as a classic. It was a straightforward account of a choice,like it or not,know it or not,it exists. Anyone whos seen it cannot possibly forget the vivid and fascinating details of the ecstacy of a high and the agony of withdrawal. Pulp Fiction is regarded as director Quentin Tarantinos best work yet. Many conservatives criticise films like these,insisting they glamorise addiction and they do have a point of view because peer pressure on a bad day can make you try crazy things. A report published in Addiction Research & Theory found that rap music started off with a strong anti drug message 15-20 years ago,but has moved to showing drug abuse as a symbol of wealth and status. The hit song,White Lines,recorded in 1983,warns that cocaine does nothing but kill your brain but the five-year-old 50 cent track,As the World Turns refers to cocaine and heroin as cool stuff.

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How influenced are we by all these indirect messages flying at us via different media? Depends probably on what stage you are at in your own life. Young adulthood is a strange time when youre prone to experimenting with careers,relationships and trying on different identities before finding your own. Youre at your most vulnerable and sometimes just one bad choice sets you off in a totally different trajectory. Im personally a big fan of Cat Marnell,a beauty columnist on the site http://www.xojane.com,who occasionally writes in excruciating detail about her own addiction issues. Occasionally a rant,very often Marnell makes no sense at all,but in between somewhere,she makes for compelling reading,especially in her essays on Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston. The drugs probably give her writing an abandon sober people dont allow themselves but thats not to say you need to be high to be brilliant.

Getting caught might turn out to be the best thing that happened to Vijender Singh. Theres no quicker way to sober up than having the entire country watching your next move,which will define what Singh really is: a hero,or a heroin addict.

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