why the hell is there such a huge fuss about the Sania-Shoaib deal?
Yes, I am going to devote precious blog space to this little drama that has been talked about so much for the past few weeks.
Personally, I don’t even like Sania, so couldn’t care less who she married. I could never really say if she is really talented or made it to the top 40 through a combination of some luck and a bit of talent. Or if she is really talented, she just let it all go waste due to fame. She definitely did have the potential to be one of the top players… but that is a different story.
But why was there such a fuss about the guy she chose to marry? True, he is from Pakistan but such marriages occur routinely. A mere line between two countries cannot separate the bloodlines that flow through the lands.
I read this article on The Guardian which says the Shiv Sena *rolling my eyes* called her various names which meant unpatriotic. Apparently, if she had chosen a guy from India, she would really belong to India. Which brings me to a comment someone made on one of my earlier posts. He said “No matter how much you love them (Muslims), they will always love Paks).”
If she had chosen to marry a Muslim from the US, would there have been the same fuss? Isn’t a Muslim a Muslim, regardless of the land? Or do the Pakistanis have something special we did not know about? Madhuri Dixit married a guy from the US… various Bollywood people routinely date and marry Westerners but nobody comments. So why is this little girl being parodied for choosing a guy from the neighbouring country?
The thing that struck me most from the article I mentioned is this graph about “male chauvenism” – And in a culture where male chauvinism is practically compulsory, that is precisely what has happened in the case of the Malik-Mirza marriage. The Pakistani boy is perceived to have won the Indian girl, and Indian male pride is hurt.
SERIOUSLY?!?!? Did the woman have no choice in the matter? And he won her… like what? In a game of cards? In a game of cricket?
And the other ridiculous line – Apparently they expect this couple to start of more peace talks and create a common platform for peace between the two countries.
How? If they were someone like… say Sachin, I could perhaps believe they had influence. But Sania? Really? The one match wonder? And Shoaib? Maybe Imran Khan, Waseem Akram who are legends…
Seriously… let the media get out and let that couple try their hands at marriage.
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The iPad
I cannot believe I have not mentioned the iPad yet!! I must be slipping. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was – “I WANT THAT”. Seriously!! Apple’s products always look fabulous. And this was something out of sci-fi movie. 
But then I realised… how useful is it really considering that you can’t use Adobe Flash on it? And about half the things in cyber space use flash. Least all the stuff I look for.
That is one special thing about Apple – that exclusive control they have about the gadgets allowed in their world. Add that with their current tiff with Google and you wonder what risks you would be taking by buying an Apple product, particularly something like an iPhone or iPad.
I want to buy an iPhone. Seriously… I tried to talk myself out of it for quite a while and my current phone is an absolute beauty + it is sturdy. But I want an iphone. But I wonder… what if Apple one day decides you can’t use google on it? Yes, in the land of US of A, antitrust laws will kick in. What happens in India? In fact, how useful is a phone like iPhone in India… particularly in these pre-3G days.
But my point was the iPad and Apple (and I shall not digress like Shobha De)… The only space where I can really think of using it is to read books and magazines and for that you’ve a much cheaper version of Kindle and its relatives. If you can’t use Flash on this, what is the point of having the iPad?
Now if only Apple makes these allowances, I would be the first in the checkout queue for one.
Of course, when i heard about my friend with an ipad, sitting in Starbucks, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy *sigh*
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As I mentioned Shobha De and digressing… the reason why I thought of it was this column I read of hers in BT today morning. Of course, BT aka Bangalore Times is quite a tabloid supplement to a paper which is quite tabloidish itself. Except BT proudly mentions only entertainment news – meaning movies and gossipy cricket news.
And now they squeezed in a “column” by Ms. De.
Today’s column was supposed to be about how Goa is losing its brand as a tourist destination. Except, after the first graph (of 3 lines), there was no mention of the topic till the last line. The rest of the article was filled with mentions of how other movie stars have lost their Brand value – including Sania who was dropped by Cadbury.
Shobha De can write well. She also has a sharp brain but then she uses her brand value to write nonsense. And when she cannot come up with nonsense opinions, she just takes a topic, writes one line about it and fills the rest with, well, nonsense.
It is true that Goa’s image has been tarnished by the rise in drug-related deaths and rapes and such. It is a pity… because Goa was one place where I could go and face no policing and the one place where you could light up a joint and feel at home. The one place where you wear a short dress without raised eyebrows. And it is getting fucked up… as all things do I guess. But either you write about that or you write about your buddy movie stars. Why mix both? Unless one of them was caught doing something in Goa and was responsible for this problem.
And the last bit of the news considering brand images – why did Cadbury really drop Sania?
Let’s speculate:
A) The whole marriage drama, as Shobha De and other says
B) Sania hasn’t really won a match or played in any decent tournament since… who knows when. So they really woke up to the fact that they had a ‘brand ambassador’ who made more news via her ads than the stuff onfield. And they played it safe and dropped her.
C) They figured that age-old backlash in India that married women face – the loss of a sex symbol status (if she ever was one). And they figured they didn’t want a plain jane/married woman as their brand ambassador because Indian men are weird that way (though they would ogle at every other thing in a skirt/sari walking on the street)
D) They just got bored of her, realised she wasn’t really gaining them anything and used this as an excuse to drop her
Pick one. Or come up with another option.
Song of the day: Aaj hai sagaai: Pyaar toh hona hi tha
InterSecting Lines 
Another piece of wisdom from a pretentious pseudo intellectual.You look like to me the next Barkha Dutt of India(pro Pakistani and anti nationalist). Sania Mirza proved it once again that they always fail to feel the pulse of INDIA.Sharukh Khan was no different in advocating Pakistani players for IPL almost putting the Mumbai carnage in oblivion.
Try to feel the pain of all those who lost their dear one in Mumbai attack before coming in support of any Pakistan pro Indian(Pseudo).A short poem for you to understand the pain we Indians feel when some one get killed in Pakistan sponsor terrorism .
http://www.prasoonjoshi.com/
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okay. here is what. take a deep breath. try to remember that people are not defined by what religion they are born into. try to remember that it is circumstances that mostly dictate what people do, not religion. Except in case of idiots like you, who insist on saying that the entire universe is defined by religion.
And then go back and read the part where I ask if it would be okay if she had married a Muslim from the US? Shouldn’t she have the freedom to marry whom she wants simply because she has to prove to morons like you that she is really Indian? Aren’t all those people who married people from other nations not Indian?
The people who were killed in the Mumbai attacks were Indian. And yes, Pakistan might support terrorist organizations but honestly, what the bloody hell has religion and Sania Mirza got to do with it?
I believe like attracts like… and ignorant morons like you always attract other morons who believe religion is more important than the country. Till you open your eyes and join the educated masses, you will always meet the wrong side of the crowd.
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For me my country is more important than any religion in the world and that’s what I expected from Sania (sharing the same feeling like her fellow Indians.). It won’t have caused any flutters if she had married a Muslim from any other country but Pakistan is different. I am least interested in talking about religion but I can’t turn blind eye when people turn soft on a particular community because they are in minority.I want them to be part of India rather than feeling alienated out of their religious extremism(For a Muslims his religion is first and then his nationality). Unfortunately, I happen to visit a locality once where I saw people celebrating Pakistan win over India . Although I try not to question their allegiance but I can’t when they come in support of Pakistan or tying knot with a Pakistani or for example people going mad to touch Pervez Musharaff(the man who imposed Kargil war on us) in Jama Masjid during his visit in 2009 or bombing their own country or issuing fatwa not to sing our national song.I am still looking for circumstances which lead them to such action.Why every terrorist safe haven traced out to a Muslim Dominated locality and what about this new Islamic terrorist group called INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN as if we were falling short of their terrorist ? May be all of them are not anti-India but then what is the basis to find all such traitors? Why they are not at the same pitch against Pakistan like their fellow Indians? Hence I ask this question ,“do they deserve to be called Indians ?”
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@ASSHISH – You speak of the pain from losing someone to terrorism. Well that is a pain my uncle can actually relate to having lost a close friend in Mumbai. She was caught hiding under the bed in her hotel room and executed.
You speak of national pride but honestly, I think its bigoted people like you that perpetuate the cycle of violence. You are incapable of viewing people and the world without shades of religion or misplaced nationalist sentiment superimposed on them.
And your examples are downright lazy if you ask me. I mean Indian muslims supporting Pakistan in a cricket match?! Seriously? Its a sport. I grew up watching Tendulkar. Idolizing him. But after watching Asif, Aamer and Gul destroy the Aussies this summer, I was rooting for Pakistan against England. Does that make me a traitor? What about people who support good cricket no matter which country plays it on the day?
As for Sania-Shoaib, you, my friend, have fallen victim to the same media sensationalism that you would sometimes, I’m sure, criticize. They are two people who got married. Thats it. Not two muslims. Not an Indian and a Pakistani. Not two traitors. Not a winner and a loser. Two people. Process that. Really think about it……
Being proud of one’s country is one thing but misplaced pride is what leads to fanaticism. You may not kill innocent people but your views are extremist. I hope you realize this. Because its not the right way to live. India is a democracy. It is people’s right to have an opinion and a belief. One that everyone else must respect as long as it doesn’t cause physical harm or disrupt the social fabric. There will always be disruptive elements but you must stop thinking they represent the “rule” and start thinking that they are the “exception.”
Lastly, let me say that it is not my intention to antagonize you just for a one-up. “It won’t have caused any flutters if she had married a Muslim from any other country but Pakistan is different. ” You wrote that line. I hope someday you’ll realize how silly thinking like that is..
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