The battle between the long beards and short skirts

Sania Mirza (the only Indian female tennis player to have broken into the Top 30 on the ATP tour!) has taken a stand. She is not going to play anymore tournaments in India.

Attagirl! For what it's worth, I'm behind her all the way! She's had enough of the self acclaimed moral police telling her that she's baring too much skin and that she should play with a hijab or a burkha on, failing which, she should be duly punished, which in this case would be pelting her to death with stones (since we're still living in the 12th century.... BC). On top of that she's been embroiled in a controversy about the flag. Only because she had her feet a few feet from it!!!! No one's saying she was stamping all over it like a child that's been denied her candy. She was sitting. Her feet were placed a few feet away from the flag. And effigies were burnt!

For fuck's sake!

She's representing our country! She's the best we've ever had. Her booming forehand has left many more prominent opponents stunned. She could inspire a generation of Indian female tennis players. Leave her be. Nurture talent, don't use it as a platform for your jingoism and cheap publicity.

But this right wing funda-fucking-mentalists are not the only one's to blame. Next up is the media. Switch to any news channel in India (even the "respectable" NDTV), this is their sensational news for the day. They'll run polls, vox-pops, panels and the like asking everyone and a stray dog whether they think Sania's skirt is too short. The fat Gujarati businessman, who probably gets his rocks off watching women's tennis, takes what he thinks is a moral highground and condemns Sania. Another fat aunty gets interviewed on the street while trying to get the poor vegetable vendor to shave 2 Rs off the tomatos she just bought. And she thinks it's not in line with Indian conservatism. Then they have the gall to cut to an interview with some FUCKING religeous expert who claims this is against the will of Allah!!!! WHAT???!!!!!! Allah, I'm sure, has more pressing matters to deal with - like a bunch of lunatics killing in his name! Something tells me he's a tad upset about that.

Who gives a fuck about what a fat Gujarati businessman, the haggling aunty or the dated bearded dude think? None of them have ever played tennis or done anything that would make their parents proud (leave alone an entire nation).

Therein lies the 3rd set of people who're pissing me off. The common man - and thats a big bug-bear to carry. The NDTVs of the world carry this sensation through the day only because people want to hear about this. People revel in other people's misery (Mahogany had a very interesting post about this wrt Britney Spears). Get over it. Get on with your life. Cheer her on and be happy there's someone doing our country proud in sport. And be prouder that it's a woman. Salute her spirit and egg her on. Reject this nonsense from the media.

While all of this goes on - I hope Sania keeps her spunk intact (that sounds so wrong), works on her serve, and more importantly, continues to inspire the next generation of Indian tennis players.

On a separate note - where do effigy burners come from? Who makes the effigies? How do they have the time in the middle of the day to get together and burn an effigy? Don't they need to be at work or something? It could be a great business idea! Effigy makers. 3 hours delivery at a prominent junction anywhere in the country - guaranteed!