Sania and Shocks - The Quintessential Vicissitudes !

I believe, in your life till now, you had fair amount of shocks to shock you up. It may be your shocking failure or success in your final exams, your or your friend’s selection into something that wasn’t on expected lines, or for that sake initial terror attacks. Initial attacks because you must have got used to it by now and terror would have become a word of frequent use. And in a country as vast as India which has infinite traditions there must have been a moment faux pas to shock you. If all this hasn’t shocked you in the dearness of past, for sure some politicians or film stars unlikely death or a match won by Indian cricket team would have taken its toll. Shock comes in different sizes too so, be ware.

Now let’s see some Sania Mirza. BTW don’t err and assume she’s Mirza Galib’s descendant. Sania is into something that’s not even remotely associated with what Galib did. And how can I make such disgraceful inept comparison or state the two in a sentence. See again I’ve missed the point... Okay Madam Sania needs no introduction – at least in Indian sub-continent- but let me have the privilege of doing so. Along years I’ve developed this habit of taking privilege in introducing people, so one of my friend calls me the-privilegist-introducer. That’s some sort of a title ain’t it? Such is the intensity of introduction, and many a times it’s just an obligation - to be honest. Whatever lets get back to Sania. So, if I remember correctly she came to limelight some 5 years back with her rapid rise on international stage and subsequent improvement in rankings. I personally believe that she never had mettle to score on international turf, just by some fluke and few easy draws was she able to better her rankings. This may sound highly opinionated and subjective view but you are free to check records. She did not beat even a single decent ranked player till now. However, she did become 33^rd ranked player.

In India people are sentimental to the core. In some ways you can call it foolishness on the riverbank. If you are selling a bottle full of water on a river bank and someone actually buys it, then it’s highly likely that that person is an Indian. So let’s get back to Sania again as we have done few times earlier. Sania soon is burdened of representing whole feminine side of India (she’s paid too for that). By that I mean, she soon begins to sell cool drinks, chips, wardrobe, hair oil etc. People like her, they like her nose-ring too. Ah! Fashion statement – its called. Girls across India preserve their brain by utilizing it to its minimal extent and follow Sania, nose-rings are in, and everyone wears them. The fairy tale moves swiftly for a while until a “Fatwa” is issued against her. Did I forget to tell you that she wears skirts on court? In India one other thing is famous as well, a celebrity/sports star in a jiffy starts believing that his/her stardom is eternal. They just take things for granted. And then comes the rude shock; you are out of team your performance has hit a new low, probably beyond nadir. The media that crazily interviewed you now begins to criticize; your sponsors make a volte-face. Common phenomenon in this materialistic world.

I would perpetually miss the main point of the post if right now I don’t put off the music. Put off or face it, I choose the former. Amid Sania and Shocks of world one hit me this morning. A shock that now Sania Mirza will be conferred an honorary doctorate by MGR university Chennai. Darn! A doctorate for doing something that a tom, dick or Harry would have done better if provided same facilities. I see this as an extension to pseudo-social justice that prevails across India. It reminds me of P.Gopichand who won All England badminton championship couple of years back and Vishwanathan Anand, who arguably is the numero-uno in the realm of chess. Don’t such people deserve sponsorships and Honorary Doctorates? It’s a question to be answered. Social inequities at their best. The newspaper article quotes her “Well, everything seems to fall in place for me now. It’s a huge honour for me. This is very inspiring honour for me. I’m very enthusiastic about the whole ambience there.” Well if you have sensed it right she too sounds quite shocked. All I can say is Indians are unique in a unique way. By the way, she’s not the first one to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate; she joins the elite league of people like Amitabh Bachchan, Manmohan Singh (this chap actually did his PhD).

I think there should be a honorary doctorate club, where these people can interact on personal levels and contribute to society by selling potato chips and tomato sauce. When they see their career ending they always can join a political outfit that will give a Lok Sabha ticket or a nomination into Rajya Sabha. Else they have the option of hoisting a TV show, become commentator, get paid for blogging etc. Someone rightly said shocks come in all packages, be ware.