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On Friday, Sania Mirza took one step closer to winning a career Grand Slam in tennis when she won the mixed doubles US Open with her Brazilian partner.
I remember meeting Sania 11 years ago, when she was still playing the juniors’ circuit – she had just lost in the second round of the US Open girls’ singles to Emma Laine of Finland, but she was gracious even in defeat. That she is now just one short of a career Grand Slam shows what a long way she has come.
Even yesterday, she dedicated her win to her country, her fellow citizens and to the newly-formed state of Telengana, of which she is brand ambassador. In an interview to an Indian TV channel she said ‘My win is dedicated, first and foremost, to India…”.
Her win should shut up all those who have been on her case her these past few months when she was appointed brand ambassador of Telengana. But the one person who should now publicly apologise is K Laxman, the BJP MLA from her state who criticised her appointment on the grounds that she is ‘Pakistan’s daughter-in-law’ on account of her marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
That below-the-belt attack against someone who has always fought under the Indian tricolour was made by someone who clearly does not know what it means to compete under the colours of one’s country, or state, or even school house. That kind of loyalty is unparalleled, and it stirs something deep within us when we are fighting for honour, for something greater than ourselves.
There is another argument about the political meaning of a flag, but in the sporting arena, it stands for one thing and one thing only – the glory it brings your country.
Tennis is not an easy game, even though it may look that way on TV. And at its highest levels, the levels at which Sania plays regularly, it is brutally punishing – gruelling practice routines, a punishing tournament schedule that sees you in New York one week and Tokyo the next, the loneliness of hotel rooms in strange places, and the knowledge that you could be just one tournament away from being history. Under such circumstances, a career Slam is one of the highest achievements any tennis player can dream of, next only to a calendar Slam.
And unlike cricket, your pool of competitors isn’t limited to a handful of Commonwealth countries, nor are there 10 others who can cover for your lapse, nor is there a second or third or fifth Test to make up for a loss.
Yet, all the time, you are competing against the best exponents of the game in the world not just for yourself but also for your country, just like each person you see across the net is.
In his film Chak De, director Shimit Amin captures this same sentiment when the Muslim captain of the Indian hockey team is accused of throwing a final against arch-rivals Pakistan. He finally redeems himself by coaching the women’s team to a World Cup win, but the impulse to question the loyalty of such persons remains unanswered.
That was cinema, but Sania’s vilification was real. To question the patriotism and loyalty of a sportsperson who struggles against such odds is nothing short of criminal.
Unfortunately, Indian law – and society – is such that one can easily get away with such calumny. The only recourse a sportsperson has to prove such detractors wrong is where it matters most, on the playground, under the flag. This Sania has done more emphatically than any court of law could have.
As she lifted the trophy above her head, all smiles, I was glad Sania is having the last laugh.
