Support Sania

Sania Mirza, the teenage tennis player from Hyderabad, has become a sensation of sorts. At 19 years she becomes the youngest to receive the Padmashri. This has raised quite a few questions. The questions being does she deserve it? Has she got it too soon? & so on.

For a country satiating only on cricket stars, Sania Mirza is a welcome break.

Sania Mirza has been in the news as much for her dressing sense as for her tennis. I guess the people thronging the courts to see Sania are also interested in other things these days as a result of all the hype about her dress.

Lets be fair to this girl. At 19 how many even know what tennis is, leave alone play it & play it at the world level. And in a country like India, how many girls get the opportunity to even THINK of what tennis is? Aren’t they married off at that age or even probably mothering a baby? So the whole country should support Sania in her journey.

Having said that, by giving Padmashri to Sania after an Arjuna award, we are making a hero out of somebody who is not yet a hero. Sania’s only worthwhile achievement has been to break into the Top 40 of the world rankings & her third round foray in a grand slam tourney. May be a Padmashri will give her the confidence & add to the already overflowing star like persona, but what Sania needs at this stage is all the money she can, so that she can get herself trained by the world’s best pros (and may be a media adviser/consultant) & go on to achieve what no Indian woman has ever achieved before – a Grand Slam Singles Title.

Coming to the other aspect of Sania Mirza, i.e. her dress on the play court, which has antagonized a certain section of the people, I would say it’s a bit of both fair & unfair. It’s unfair because one obviously can’t expect Sania to wear a burqha & play. Also if one applies the same logic then India would never have a participation in the women’s version of aquatics & gymnastics, for players involved in such sports have to wear a particular type of clothing.

Its fair because, Sania, like it or not, has become a role model for the youngsters. So what she does, what she says, how she says it, all will matter. That way, it is important for her to ensure that she wears the right things, says the right things & in the right manner.

I think it would be fair to say that Sania is a media created star. Remember Anna Kournikova of Russia. Anna made news for exactly the same reason Sania is today. Both Anna & Sania are the kind of girls who draw most of the attention not for their on court performances but for the glamour they brought to the courts. The fact that Sania’s matches are being staged in the bigger courts indicates the growing magnet like attraction she has with the followers of the game & even the non-followers.

And what the heck if Sania doesn’t give a damn about the theory that only the balls should bounce. What matters to us is her success in professional tennis.

Let us Support Sania. She is a young girl with immense talent & places to go.