Sania Mirza should not fall on court. Her fall will be snapped up by the lens-eye. Sania shouldn’t fail in games. Her failure will wreck a nation’s heart. Finally, India has someone to worship other than gloomy cricket players and jaded film actors.
Did some one say PT Usha? Did the wise add, Nirupama Vaidyanathan Sanjeev? How could you forget Rajyavardhan Rathore already? And what happened to Viswanathan Anand?
Now, that’s unfair. Usha, Nirupama, Rathore and Anand had their moment of glory. India saluted them, and gave them their fair share of product endorsements – the country’s ultimate mark of success.
The more brands you get to endorse, the more successful you are, so what if you happen to promote digestive tablets and rich milk chocolates in the same vein, and colas and vaccination drops with the same joviality… Oh, aren’t you just performers? Unless you want to go a step further like one superstar and say, you don’t drink water – just cola. Does it imply your rice is cooked in cola too?
Oh, oh, yes, that’s a cheap shot. Thoroughly unfair too. After all, don’t heroes simply happen? The media can seed heroes but certainly not sustain them without reason. Which explains many of Indian cinema’s fallen stars – one-film-wonders who despite their back-up are instantly forgotten. No, let’s not take names.
The Indian media, however, likes to push its (vested) heroes to ridiculous extends – to the point of celebrating unverified claims. To drop a few hints, here are the key words – Oscars, India, Rai… It is “media plant” of the wrong order – carving role models for an impressionable generation desperately seeking new idols.
There is no letting go of those powerful backing strings. In India, former Miss Beauty Pageants who promised to serve the poor and dedicate their life to umpteen causes, last seen, were uncrossing legs and busy stripping before the camera. For that, they win awards – even for villainy.
Sania Mirza comes with no false claims. She cannot lie in her powerful aces. She cannot deceive in her split-second reflexes. Her celebrity status is a win-win situation. She likes the crowd and they drive her to win – as she proved in her match against World No 6, Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova. Would your rooting make Aishwarya Rai a better actress?
In India’s tabloid-like intellectual press, Sania also makes headlines for the wrong reasons. For them, her cultural background matters. Her belief-system is open to dissection. Her dress code is scrutinized. Her nose-studs and ear-rings are commented upon. And then, the lopsided inferences are drawn out to generalise on a community’s aspirations. Even pseudo-intellectualism has its limits…
Sania seems unaffected. That is a good sign. Let her have her share of endorsements. Let her have her headlines and life-size posters. But as long as Sania believes that ‘it is nice to be important but more important to be nice,’ and practises it – on court, winning or not – the awe in the faces that greet her seem justified.
Rooting for her, somehow, makes sense.
