That seems to be the reaction of everyone who's heard the news.
"Sania Mirza to wed Shoaib Malik"First there's disbelief. And that's ok. I get it. I thought she was just getting out of a broken engagement too. So this news of a rebound wedding came as a shock. But then the insults start. And that I don't get.
"She couldn't get anyone else ?" "We have 1 billion population ( What a creditable fact to tout around ) and she goes and chooses him?"
"Couldn't she have married a nice Indian cricketer like Zaheer or Irfan?" And then the insults start - calling her a terrorist, a traitor, insulting her weight issues, calling her a useless tennis player,insulting her moral character, insulting those of her faith ( heaven forbid we miss a chance to do that now ) ...
Sigh...
What's wrong with you people ? She's getting married and all you can do is curse her ?
Everyone's saying it's not ok because he's a Pakistani. Is that really the case though ? When Moshin Khan married Reena Roy or Imran Khan had an affair with Zeenat Aman, was this the reaction ?
Because as far as I remember, we tend to be intolerant for a lot more than just inter-country relations.
Sure it's ok for Shah Rukh, Aamir, Hrithik and Saif to go inter-religion but how many cases do you know from real life that progressed smoothly towards marriage without parental/society opposition ?
Forget inter-religion, how many cases do you know where inter-state was an issue ?
How many cases do you know where inter-caste was an issue ?
Finally, how many cases do you know where just falling in love despite fulfilling the above criteria was the issue ?
And now you want to go all moralistic and patriotic because a girl you never talked to but once supported even when she played bad fell for a guy whose worst crime till date is probably bowling Sachin Tendulkar out ?
It's ok to watch a televised show of a swayamwara for a known ex-wife beater and druggie and root for a girl to win such a guy as a husband but this is a crime ? That kind of "model Indian" is fine but just because she chose a Pakistani, you're praying for her death and her divorce and what-not ?
Suddenly, she appears fat and of loose morals to you ?
Suddenly, you're so sure that she's carrying a Mujahideen bomb in her tennis racket covers when earlier you used to say with pride "This is India's best female tennis player" ? ( Oh wait ! She still is, isn't she ? )
Grow up... we're in a society which has always frowned on anything and everything... and then carried on after hurting the concerned parties. Let's not continue this part of our culture. So many Indian women all over the world are in relationships today with men from other countries and guess what ? They're just as INDIAN as anyone out here.
Our anonymous insults will only cause her anguish in what is supposed to be the happiest period of her life... 6 months from now, we won't even care or remember this. But the pain and memory of how we treated her will remain with her forever.
She wants to marry someone, that's her right... As far as I know, we have a right to wish her well as she starts her new life.
I hope we can be big enough to do that.
Suddenly, she appears fat and of loose morals to you ?
Suddenly, you're so sure that she's carrying a Mujahideen bomb in her tennis racket covers when earlier you used to say with pride "This is India's best female tennis player" ? ( Oh wait ! She still is, isn't she ? )
Grow up... we're in a society which has always frowned on anything and everything... and then carried on after hurting the concerned parties. Let's not continue this part of our culture. So many Indian women all over the world are in relationships today with men from other countries and guess what ? They're just as INDIAN as anyone out here.Our anonymous insults will only cause her anguish in what is supposed to be the happiest period of her life... 6 months from now, we won't even care or remember this. But the pain and memory of how we treated her will remain with her forever.
She wants to marry someone, that's her right... As far as I know, we have a right to wish her well as she starts her new life.
I hope we can be big enough to do that.
Hey Rosh, I totally totally agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%.. U might find many who are against her but they r immature and senseless!
ReplyDeleteSuman, Preetam.. sadly, we are in the minority then .. felt sad seeing the comments from ppl on various free sites
ReplyDeletehey guys whether its cricket or tennis, india or pak, hindu or muslim ppl will not stop showin mean negativity esp if the one involved is from pak... to hell with them all, its just fine she chose a partner who'll support her sportin career.. its a gr8 pair and i hope all will b well in future for them.. god bless them with good yrs ahead :)
ReplyDeleteWell said, Doctor. I doff my hat to thee.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with you all. But India is like this only. We will say what a nice couple for hrithik & suzanne but if our neighboring Hindu boy goes out with a Muslim girl we raise our eyebrows.And when the name Pakistan comes we start giving our useless views. Its true that both countries have many issues but does not mean that all nationals of that country are terrorists .may be people have no problem if she marries someone of high political power from the great USA.
ReplyDeleteYeah... exactly!!!
ReplyDeleteGROW UP PEOPLE....
Rate her tennis skills, comment on her game and please don't poke ur nose into her personal life!
Goutham, Amen to that !!
ReplyDeleteAhem, Sweta.. looks like Bal Thackeray has joined in with his crap talk,according to news reports.. the witchhunt has begun..
Shalini, as I said, Bal Thacks has got his mindset involved.. now expect effigies !!
I agree....let the girl be and let us celebrate her tennis. Why does junta feel we own the private life of celebrities? The way things are going she may opt for another country's citizenship and then we will lose one of our greatest women sports person.
ReplyDeleteShe should be left alone. So much drama over such an average tennis player.
ReplyDeleteBang on!!
ReplyDeleteSharmile, so true right... we need to run their lives. Dont know how ppl will treat her once its done..
ReplyDeleteHari, exactly..
Varsha, thanks
When will we learn that our right ends where someone else's nose begins.
ReplyDeleteGood post, Doctor!
...totally agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to figure out why can't people just let someone be...and be happy that the person in question is happy.
As long as the two people involved are happy, does it really matter where they come from, the first time I saw the news my instant reaction was "finally love wins over hatred" sign of good things to come...people just do not seem to want that to happen.
Sad, will we ever be able to rise over this pettiness, alas!
Finally,some sense on the topic...Totally agree with you.Felt nice reading it.
ReplyDeleteand oh...sweet blog...!
ReplyDeleteGood point Giri.. when will we learn indeed
ReplyDeleteDagny, unlikely really.. its just our mindset.. cant accept these kind of things while shouting with the same breath to be a superpower of the world
Rahul, thanx mate.. glad u liked it
Finally, someone with a lot of sense and objectivity-more than the journos-i belong to the same field-who boast of being objective.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog post. I hope Sania gets to read this. Am not a big fan of hers but i do know where a line should be drawn.Period.
What a relief this blog post has been from all the others!
thanks Padma Priya.. really wish people would be sensible in this day and age.. whenever they want, they'll chose to bring up irrelevant topics and then use catchphrases like "culture" and "morality".. I'm no die hard fan of hers( last tennis idol was Steffi Graf so thats a long time back ), but I find no reason to be against her either. As far as Im concerned this was a needless harassment for a poor girl
ReplyDeleteI would also partly blame the media for the same because the whole thing happened during a bad news week (until the unfortunate massacre of our 76 policemen happened) and the media had to blow up something to keep their enthusiasm levels high up...
ReplyDeleteLike the Godfather says, "It is not personal, its strictly business"
hah.. loved the ending point// but really she chose a bad time i guess.. took the death of 76 jawans and a Tharoor-Modi headbutt to divert attention away.. sad what it says abt our attention span !!
ReplyDeletespeaking of our attention span... I have written an article on it about 2 months back which is kind of relevant to the conversation we're having now -- http://gtoosphere.blogspot.com/2010/02/lazy-evolution.html
ReplyDeleteNice blog. But if my memory serves me right, this "hate campaign" against Sania started even before her betrothal to Shoiab Malik. Remember the pictures where she apparently showed disrespect to the national flag and stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe inherent defect with people (and more so with Indians) is that we start judging people who are in the public eye. We start noticing every minute detail about people who are constantly in the limelight. The lenght of the skirts worn, the number of inches it goes up beyond the permissible limit while returning a vociferous serve, the peck on the cheeks given to their mixed doubles partner, the coaches who spend a lot of time with them are all seen with a lot of stigma, negativism and suspicion.
Sania's wedding to a Pakistani should be the least of her concerns in my opinon.