The fall of Sania Mirza: Are we a fussy nation?

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M. S. Verma

21 February, 2010

We make a lot of fuss when some Indian achieves something even on his/her own and rush to get credit for his/her being an Indian and when there is some drawback, we are prompt to use brickbats.

THE RINGSIDE view in a national newspaper depicts a sad but true story, not only of Sania Mirza but also of myriads of others like her. I am not a cricket fan, but I remember quite a longtime ago Ravi Shastri, our famed cricketer, sitting with his teammates on a new car he had won. Champagne was being splashed about. Then, not long thereafter I recall him receiving brickbats when he lost.

I remember Abhinav Bindra, who won a gold medal in shooting mostly on his own efforts and later a nomination being denied, as he had not reported for some rehearsal. I also recall a woman weight lifter from Kurukshetra District of Haryana who had won a bronze in a foreign country. Then saw her sadly being lost to oblivion. There are quite a sizable number of Indians who have won accolades in many fields in foreign countries or in India.

There are Nobel Prize winners; there are space adventurers, and others almost in every field who are praised and raised to the skies and are made a lot of fuss about and then probably people will agree with me that we make a lot of fuss of when there is some achiever, fresh from his/her exploit. There are bouquets all around as in English poet Browning’s poem, The Patriot.

First he was welcomed as a hero and then in a year he was arrested and with his hands tied behind him was led to the gallows to be beheaded. Everybody who could manage to do so pelted him with stones. He expected his reward from God as he found human beings incapable of rewarding him.

The point is, are we a nation of Fuss Makers? Is there no moderation in our appreciation or condemnation? The language of cricket, as it is evolving, also occasionally overshoots limits of moderation and is offensive. Do we really intend to be labeled a nation of fuss makers or are we a fussy nation? We show undue alacrity in using bouquets and brickbats in such cases. I hope that we pause and correct the imbalance which is prevalent in our country’s thinking process.

Tinted glasses will remain tinted, why the fuss?

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COMMENTS (1)

Prof.Dr.C.S.Venkatesh

.I do agree that we Indians are too hasty in cricising a sports person like Sania Mirza who has done India proud. She has beaten a number of higher ranked players in ATP circiut. Of late her performance has declined , may be due to her reccurring wrist injury or personal life. Iam a tennis player for the last 35yrs and have played at state level .At 64 I still play decent tennis and watch all important tennis events. When I watch Sania playing I feel a great sense of joy. She has an attacking fore hand and asuperb doble fisted back hand. the problem lies in her poor service and movement in the court. She is still yound and has a great future. We As Indians should be proud of her acheivements and encourage her in acheiving greater heights. I wish her all the best.Prof .dr.C.S.Venkatesh,IPOH,Malaysia.