Marriages of people from different nationalities don’t often become a central topic at the discussion table of foreign ministry diplomats of two nations. The Shoaib Malik – Sania Mirza wedding news has however, become the central agenda of discussion among opinion makers of the two nations and the issue gave sleepless nights to Hyderabad Police. They have to deal with this ordeal apart from their regular work, which includes sundry things like Naxalism!
Let me take you down to Tour de Shoania (Shoaib + Sania) saga. In the eye of the storm are two very popular figures- If Shoaib Malik is a former Pakistan cricket captain, Sania’s popularity can be judged by the media frenzy around her. Sania Mirza is India’s first tennis queen and heartthrob of millions across the globe.
So, when the two decided to embrace matrimony and announced it to the world, the news sent shockwaves across the Indian subcontinent. Definitely, many eye brows were raised and lot many more he
arts broken.
Then, the so called guardians of India’s national interest, people like Balasaheb Thackeray, minced no words in voicing concern on the plight of Indian girls, who are being lured by Pakistani boys. According to him, the circumstances clearly ensure that Sania does not over step the line of actual control. She might have gotten away with it while serving at the court, but life is more than the game of serve and volley, Sania must have learnt by now.
I wonder what Bal Thackeray was doing when Indian girls were publicly assaulted and beaten in front of all and even stripped by his men on Valentine’s Day in Pune last year.
The opinion churners have not stopped here. Indo-Pak marriages can definitely bring down the barriers of acrimony between the two nations and open floodgates of successful peace accord. Optimism at its very best!
Marriages, I have often heard, are personal choices and are made in heaven. Practical experience forces me to see how hollow that statement is. How often a marriage becomes a mode to settle political scores and gain business hegemony, is something all of us might have come across. Indian history, in fact, is testimony to such politically motivated marriages and they have often turned successful. Love somehow found way into hearts of the married couple later-on, at least Bollywood depicts so.
By no means am I trying to impose upon you the great advantages of arranged marriages, but if Sania, Shoaib have claimed that they will marry in a love cum arranged ceremony on April 15th, then they must have cross checked the longevity records of such alliances. Of course, Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik are not getting married to strengthen Indo-Pak ties, as many have suggested. I had no business to write about the marriage of two people, but for heaven’s sake, this has nothing to do with it!
‘Personal choice’ does not give a celebrity any right to tarnish and humiliate a woman, who has ‘married’ him. Ayesha Siddiqui claimed all along that she had married Shoaib Malik and she has given ample proof of the same. By watching the protagonists play their part on national television during the last couple of days, this writer of yours had gathered enough evidence to judge that Ayesha’s claims were not baseless.
The latest acknowledgement from Shoaib Malik, by way of signing the divorce papers, just vindicates my stand on the whole issue. It’s about time our political class, which minces no time in ridiculing media, now appreciatse the role which the fourth estate has played in seeking justice for Ayesha.
I know of men who don’t prefer fat girls as their brides, and I also know of girls for whom the non-gym hitter boys are greatest turn–offs and on that front alone, Shoaib Malik’s hesitancy can be understood.
Ayseha Siddiqui has raised a point against this age old male mindset that judges one’s beauty by sheer appearance, and often hides their act of treachery and infidelity behind the garb of religion.
Ayesha had every right to seek justice as she was truly wronged. I, for once, think had it not been an active media, the case of Ayesha would have been far weaker than it is today.
Only Shoaib can answer now if he really intends to marry Sania - In person, or yet again is a telephonic marriage on the cards? Or maybe it'll just be a reception, after news filtered in that they have already tied the knot secretly somewhere in Dubai.
Sania Mirza is just trying to be the traditional Indian girl who backs her future husband to the hilt and the joint press conference the other day was just one such example.
To Sania I would say, deep down inside, every one knows that times are changing and gone are the days when married women used to politely take all the s**t from their husbands, all the while maintaining a calm exterior. The girl’s ability to bear all with fortitude then became the bed rock of successful marriages.
Times are changing Sania, you have been a harbinger of change in the past. Or else, who would have thought a Muslim girl, and that too from Hyderabad, a city which is famous for Charminar, Biryani and Hijabs, would also be known for producing India’s tennis sweetheart in Sania Mirza.
I often wonder how many guys across India and the globe would actually come forward to marry the Ayesha Siddiquis of this planet, better known for not accepting injustice lying down.
