Sania's huge burden

Unrealistic expectations are bound to place an awesome burden on Sania Mirza, writes Nirmal Shekar

So, Sania Mirza has yet another new role — that of a world-changing pioneer. If you were to believe the pundits, the Hyderabad teenager can have a major impact on issues and events that a Nelson Mandela might find mind-bogglingly complex.

Driven by Utopian impulses, even the well-meaning and erudite can sometimes find the temptation to settle for naive and simplistic assessments irresistible. Yet, these temptations are to be resisted, for they can do the celebrated young woman more harm than good in the long run.

Changing the world, reordering society... these are games in which the best of life's players — visionary statesmen, sagacious leaders and great philosophers — have often found to their dismay that the failure rate was alarmingly high. And to expect a tennis playing teenager who is yet to acquire a college degree to achieve success in this game is nothing short of preposterous. Climbing trees to get to the stars may be an interesting pastime but, in the end, it is nothing more than that.

Yet, the point here is not about how far-fetched the theory — that Sania has it in her to change the world and make it a better place for all of us — is. It is about the awesome burden such talk can place on her young shoulders.

Remarkable year

Through a remarkable year in which she sky-rocketed from well outside the top 200 in rankings to No.32, Sania has done even better off the courts, handling everything hurled at her with commendable maturity and poise.

But, right now, she would sooner change her service toss than attempt anything to change the world. Seeking to accomplish socio-political change for the better, or even donning the role of a cultural ambassador, are matters that are unlikely to dominate her agenda now, or even in the near future.

And why would we want her to do anything like that? Already there are enough pressures in her station in life — as a top-level tennis pro. In the event, why add to them and make things even more difficult for her?

As she looks back on a season in which she took off on wings of fantasy to soar to heights rarely aspired to by Asian sportswomen, Sania must surely be wondering what she did to attract the attention of the let's-find-an-icon-to-change-the-world intellectual community.

A huge price tag

Of course, fame, money and adulation in sport come with a huge price tag. From Don Bradman down to Sachin Tendulkar and from Suzanne Lenglen down to Maria Sharapova, sportspersons have been keenly aware of this trade off. Some have resented it but the good majority have accepted the reality gracefully.

But, then, in Sania's case, it appears to be more than just the normal variety of sporting fame. That is the scary part.

Undeniably, she is a role model for tennis playing kids in India — talented, confident, aggressive on court and charming off the court. But to expect Sania to be a role model in triggering changes deemed necessary in the world by this group or the other is ridiculous.

The kid didn't set out to be a social reformer when she picked up a tennis racquet. All she dreamed of was simply a magical year like 2005 when she has transformed herself from Sania Who? to near-iconic status.

And left to herself, she would continue to dream in the same direction. Perhaps from 32 to Top 10.

It seems almost cruel to interfere with that dream. It is time we left Sania alone and, instead, started to rejoice in the power of sporting dreams.

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