Sania bumps off Aishwarya on Google

Here's further proof of Sania-mania in this country, if any more was needed: Sania is not just the apple of the television viewer and newspaper reader's eye she is also the netizen's favourite subject. The 19-year-old tennis player is the most searched personality on Google India so far in 2005.

Sania has been a hot favourite this year, consistently ahead of film star Aishwarya Rai and even beating India's most-loved cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, to remain on top of Google's zeitgeist list.

Zeitgeist is German for 'spirit (geist) of the time (zeit)' and is a term for the current ethos or cultural climate. Less philosophically, the term is also used for one helluva big media phenomenon.

Sania, the list indicates, is a reflection of India's spirit in 2005. For Sania, 2005 was a year of achievements. The Hyderabadi became the first Indian woman to get to the fourth round of the US Open, losing to world number one Maria Sharapova.

In January she had reached the third round of the Australian Open where she lost to Serena Williams but won the American's praise for her strokes as well as the prediction of a bright future.

Sania is currently ranked world number 32, the top-ranked Indian woman in tennis.

The only times this year that Sania didn't top the list were January-February, when the term 'tsunami' was more searched than her, and July and September, when the tech term 'SureRoute' had her beat.

Not only did Sania top the list as the most searched personality, she also did it against tough competition from the likes of Harry Potter.