Sania Mirza's marriage woes

There is a saying = “Begaani Shaadi mein Abdullah Deewana” (some one is getting excited at someone else’s marriage).  That is what this story is about!

Shoaib Malik is an ex-Pakistani Captain.  Although he is a good cricketer, but cricket is not why he has recently gotten into limelight.

Its his marriage.  Or marriageS?!

Please see Posts and Pics of Sania Mirza’s on Drishtikone

He is marrying the most searched for female in India – Sania Mirza!  The sexy and good looking tennis player makes waves even when she wins nothing!  Her dress, her lovers, her Hajj pilgrimage, her love for the country – everything in nutshell is scrutinized, often voyeuristically .. beyond belief and norms of a normal admiration!  All this, for someone who has not won any major Grand Slam title, most non-Indians would wonder?!

Well, the drama of Sania and Shoiab took an interesting turn when another lady Ayesha Siddiqui, recently tumbled out of the closet.  Now according to her, not only – despite not being good looking – was she married to Shoaib but she also was pregnant with his kid of which she had a miscarriage.

Shoaib, on the other hand, says that the lady with whom the Nikah was done wasn’t the same as Ayesha.  In fact he knows Ayesha (in the pics) as “Maha Apa” – Elder sister of Maha.  Maha, incidentally is the name of Ayesha.

By any accounts, Sania’s foray in to marriage hasn’t been very auspicious.  She was engaged a few months back before she ran in to Shoaib in Australia.  And as the poem goes “God knows what they did up there… but came down with a…” Sania’s engagement was called off on grounds of “incompatibility” and a new guy was inducted into the “Hall of Flames”.  And that became the new saga of Sania and Shoaib!

If this was the only angle and issue in this marriage (of Ayesha) then even that would have been ok and easy to solve.  The misery goes further.  Politicians – invited and uninvited – want to have a say in her marriage.

The religious police of both the sides – Hindus and Muslims – are against her marriage to a Pakistani.  And interestingly, both are against this marriage for the same reason – hurting the feeling of Indians!

Well, if some girl finds love across the border that’s her personal matter.  If it is construed as a statement on the manhood – or lack of it – on part of Indian males, then it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!  Marriages between Indian and Pakistan Muslims specifically have been happening for a long time.  This is nothing new.

Of course, marriages of the celebs with Pakistanis and Pakistani cricketers specifically have not been something to write home about – Reena Roy being the most prominent – but then Pakistani cricketers, their beards and shouts of “Allah ho Akbar” notwithstanding have been known playboys.  And Pakistan as a society is still not as open as even the Indian society is.

But with Sania Mirza the problem of marrying a Pakistani goes up another notch.  She is a fiercely patriotic Indian.  So, how would she react in a match against India and Pakistan where Shoaib is playing?  Back up India, she says.  Easier said than done.  What if the next terror attack happens in, say, Hyderabad or during a tennis or a sports event in India and those involved are clearly Pakistanis?  Like say 26-11?  How will she take that or react to it?

She and Shoaib have decided to live in Dubai but by the the looks of it, Pakistanis – Government also jumping earnestly in the fray – are hell bent on giving a great welcome to their “Sania bhabhi”.  The pressure to settle down in Pakistan will be extremely high.  And, that would make things even worse!

In any case, from Drishtikone’s side, I would like to wish her all the best in life no matter whom she marries and where she settles.. and even whom she backs up in an India vs Pakistan match.  These are her decisions and she has a right to them.  Let’s not micromanage our celebs.