SANIA-MANIA

Last week the only big news apart from the right to education bill was Sania- Shoaib marriage. As I was looking for a pertinent topic to reflect my views upon I decided to take this high profile marriage as my centre of thought.
There are several questions which come in our mind when we think about this marriage. The questions relate to patriotism of Sania to the obsession of our media to the celebrities. Let’s address these issues one by one.
1. Is it really a high profile marriage
Off course it is.
Sania is the visible face of Indian tennis. She is the only female tennis player we have at the international level. Her photogenic face and high profile lifestyle contributes to her glamour quotient. Apart from all these reasons publicity seeking Muslim clerics, who criticizes her for her short dresses and various other reasons ensures that she remain in news every fortnight. Some months ago her engagement with childhood friend Sohrab Mirza and then its calling off also made news. So in all measures, yes it is a high profile marriage from bridal side.

Same things can be said about Shoaib Malik, who we remember more for his idiotic comment in 2007 T 20 world cup final when he said that he wanted to win for Muslims all over the world, just forgetting the fact that a Muslim from India (Irfan Pathan –man of the match in the final) ensures that Pakistan did not win the world cup. He is a useful all-rounder who has batted on many positions and contributes with his bowling also. Even if we keep away all his batting and bowling records the only fact that he is a cricketer, especially in the region where cricket is religion and some cricketers are also called god ensures that his marriage will be high profile.

And why should we talk only about the individuals? The relationship we enjoy (or suffer) with Pakistan is in itself so bombastic in nature that when the incidents of individual crossing the borders by mistake make headlines then this is the case of a cricketer coming on visa and marrying the most visible face of Indian tennis.

So this is a high profile marriage not only from the point of view of personalities but also from the field they represents and most important the country they belongs to.

2. Is media interfering in their personal life by making it a front page story?
No,
It is the role of the media to inform the public about the life of the celebrities. All these celebrities relish the public glare when the journalist reports about their day to day activities. They comment on their twitter account on the mundane activities and expect the general public to know about their pet and their favorite dish. Now if this glare is risking their peace of mind then they should have thought about it before.
If we talk especially about this marriage than ironically it has all the elements which are required in a spicy script to make it a blockbuster. A Pakistani boy engages with an Indian girl, than comes another Indian girl who claims that she has married the boy beforehand. There are claims and counterclaims from both the sides. In between there is a news of some intimate relationship between the boy and her supposedly ex wife. Is it a real life version of “LOVE, SEX AND DHOKA”?
I can bet RGV and Mahesh Bhatt are keeping a close eye on the developments.

How can media ignore something which is so sensational, spicy, news making and dramatic?

3. Is Sania taking the right decision?
Who are we to decide this?
Will media and public will decide that which B School I should join or should I take a drop or not? It is entirely my personal decision and involves only me and my family. The same principal applies to Sania and Shoaib. Off course there are some individuals like Rakhi and Rahul who want to marry after taking the votes from all over the country but better leave them for another blog.
If it is a correct decision then it is all right.
If it is a wrong decision then let Sania stew in her own juice.
Just don’t pass any judgmental statement about the accuracy of the decision.

Wish the couple a happy married life.

4. Is she unpatriotic?
No,
How can she be?
If marrying and loving a foreigner is unpatriotic than unfortunately Madhuri Dixit, Neena Gupta, Shashi Kapur and even Rajiv Gandhi is also unpatriotic. This list can go on endlessly. To prove her love for the country it is not necessary for her to marry an Indian. She can be both loyal to her husband and to India at the same time.

5. Why this brouhaha over this decision?
To be blunt, we don’t like Pakistanis.
It doesn’t matter how moderate and open minded we claims to be in our public life but deep inside our heart we hate Pakistan and Pakistanis because of reasons not difficult to understand. Whether it be Kashmir dispute or it be the monster of terrorism which took a horrendous avatar on 26 November 2009 we know who is behind this. Pakistan is not as same for us as West Indies or USA. So Neena Gupta having an affair with Sir Viv Richards is different and Sania with Shoaib is different.

6. Why no one opposes the concept of Veer Zara?
Though the movie came much before this incident but we all know the fact that relation between India and Pakistan has always been tense right after the independence. But no one opposed the Veer marrying Zara in the movie (I know it seems silly to compare a movie with a real life situation but it is the only example I have at present of a cross border marriage) and now the public sentiments are against Sania marrying Shoaib, why?
Gender bias.
We live in a patriarchal society. In a marriage the groom side is said to have an upper hand over the bridal side. If you don’t agree to me then think about the terms such as “Zamai Raja”, “Kunwar Saab”etc which are used for the groom. It is not difficult to accept that the boy side is considered as the one who has done a great favor for the girl side by accepting the relation. Though the situation is changing in the urban parts of the country but even than the overall mindset of the country is more or less same. We never like our sisters and daughters being ogled upon by the boys but don’t treat the same behavior of our brothers and sons with similar disdain. Echoing the similar sentiment Pakistan’s tennis chief Senator Dilawar Abbas made a public statement that Sania should follow the tradition in Asia by accepting Pakistan as new homeland and should henceforth play for Pakistan. Hence for general public it is not a marriage between Sania and Shoaib but it is loosing Sania to a Pakistani boy.

7. Behavior of some lunatic elements(read Bal Thackeray)
The other day there were some comments in the media by an old, bed ridden man who is desperately fighting for political space in the state where he is facing tough competition from his own nephew who is hell bent on killing the political future of his own uncle’s party. And in his quest of getting media attention and keeping himself relevant in the politics he decided to took Sania as his new hate target (though next day being contradicted by his own son ). Let’s look in the matter from this point of view.
Why Shiv Sena and VHP targets Indian Muslims every now and then because they want to create an impression in the public that loyalty of Indian Muslims lies with Pakistan and hence they can’t be trusted. Their sole aim is to isolate Indian Muslims and polarize the public so they can reap the benefit in the elections.
But unfortunately for them and fortunately for us they have not succeeded. And as far as comment of Bal Thackeray is concerned by this comment he has further increased his IQ(idiotic quotient).

To conclude all of this it is a marriage between two high profile sports person from two different countries which are fighting with each other from past six decades and this marriage has all the masala which makes it inevitable for the media to report it on the first page. Apart from all this there are comments on the verity of the decision of the girl and even her patriotism is questioned. Main reason behind all this is the mixed emotions of religious, national and male chauvinism. It also gives an opportunity to some lunatic and insane elements to keep them in news.