Saina vs Sania

The debate would go on whether Saina Nehwal would ever be given the same status as that of Sania Mirza in India? Undoubtedly Sania has done far more than any other female tennis player from India and she deserves all the attentions and accolades. But would that justify that she keeps on hogging all the limelight inspite of not being able to repeat the performances. The past two years have been a pretty average for her and apart from technique; it’s her fitness that is to be blamed for her debacle. She is far more off the court due to her injury than on the court. From as high as 30th rank, she has slipped below 100. And she has not made a single major mark which is worth mentioning. And during the same course of time, Saina Nehwal has gone from strength to strength. She has been performing consistently and has reached atleast quarters of every other tournament she has played. She added jewel in her crown by reaching the quarter-finals in Olympics. The icing on the cake was her recent win of a Super Series Tournament. It would have been great that she also received the same adulations as that of Sania Mirza courtsy her series of achievements. But that is not to be. For her achievements, on one hand, Sania receives full page story and on the other hand Saina has to satisfy with a para mention.
Let’s find out some of the reasons for such biased reactions to these two individuals. Some of the factors are:
1. Fan following – The popularity of Tennis is far more than that of Badminton. So the treatment meted out to players in both the games is going to be different. It’s the same Cricket vs Hockey story.
2. Glamour Quotient – Sania brings glamour quotient in to the game. It’s of no hidden secret that the popularity of Sania is next only to Maria Sharapova (in terms of glamour).
3. Tennis catches eyeball – Tennis is one sport where “the length of skirt is inversely proportional to the popularity of the player”. And add the glamour and controversy and Voila you get page 3 news.
4. Media – It’s of no hidden secret that media worldwide (esp in India) shows what is sold. And we all know what is sold in India.
I don’t foresee that in near future Saina Nehwal is going to get the accolades and adulations as she deserve until or unless one of the above points changes. And till that time sports lover like me would wonder: “Why an overrated Sania’s 1st round victory is is always given far more importance than an underrated Saina’s appearance in the final of a Super Series Tournament?”

Are we becoming beasts???

The recent Surat gangrape made me wonder... Are we increasingly turning into an insensitive, inhumane and immoral society? What else would explain the recent spurt in rape cases that is getting highlighted in this country? Undoubtedly, the reason could be that nowadays the media is getting more involved in bringing them out sensationalising them, which in a way has helped us to ask ourselves such questions.
But what are the causes for increase in rape cases in India? Some might say that it is the belief that people can get away with. Most of the time women are afraid to come out because of the backward notion that many places it is considered to be women’s fault (even if they are young children). The fear of going public is there because many times the society shuns them away and it becomes difficult to find suitable match for them. And if everything is fine then the slowness with which they get justice means that they undergo harassment by people looking at her and showing contemptuous sympathy. Animals take advantage of all these factors and go on committing one of the most heinous crimes ever known to mankind.
What should be done to make sure that these cases are brought to limelight and people gets justice? First of all I feel that a strong precedent should be sent across everyone that these things would not be taken lightly. The amount of interest shown by Maharashtra’s CM in Shiney Ahuja’s case is commendable but the same swiftness should be shown in another rape cases also as all the rape victims undergo same agonising pain. When I talk of strong precedent should be sent across I mean that the punishment should be such a way that people should think twice before committing such crimes. A stricter law in itself wouldn’t serve purpose; there is a greater need for making sure that the guilty are punished and punished fast. There has been a far larger debate on whether to use death penalty as a deterrent. But until or unless such strict measures are taken and people understand the gravity of this crime, it’s going to be very difficult for us to stop this crime. Human Rights commission people might come and speak against such laws. But where are these people when these girls are raped? And would they still oppose if their own relatives undergo such trauma?One thing that we need to keep in mind is that rape is one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed by a human being. The importance of a stricter law can be gauged from the fact that “A woman who is murdered dies once but a woman who is raped dies everyday”.