Start of the Star
So Sania Mirza the Indian teen tennis sensation’s dream run in the US open ended when she got a wake up call from Maria Sharapova the top seed. Straight sets defeat et al. The success story has ended only to repeat itself in the next tournament for Sania Mirza. She is a talented girl I must admit, no one just moves 250+ rankings up in less than a year without being talented and lands up at a seeding of 42 on the WTA tour. By the time this article gets published she would have gone into the 30s with her 4th round exit in the US open.
All those statistics apart she has now become the latest pin up girl and the darling of the Indian masses. Good for her I must say and good for India, finally we have other sports other than the religion of the country ‘cricket’ that are getting mileage. We have other heroes as well in Narain Karthikeyan (Formula 1 racing), Pankaj Advani (Snooker), Raghavendra Rathore (Shooting), who are non cricketing stars and there are more I have not mentioned about.
Mind you they are stars because of their own effort and not something that the sport’s governing body enabled them to be. They needed a lot of sponsorship and self funding to get to where they wanted to be. It has required a lot of zeal and dedication and the urge to do what they wanted to do, to be where they are today apart from their talent. They have paid the price to be a star today.
I’m sure in a country of millions there would be thousands who may be as talented or more who have not made it. They have lacked something these people have in plenty – perseverance. They may not be the best in the world as yet but they will get there, sooner than later, becasue they know where they are going. There is an anonymous saying that Johnnie Walker Whiskey uses in it's Keep Walking campaign - "The Whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going". The rest like you and me will be left sitting back on their couches and just left with having opinions about everything without having done anything.
All those statistics apart she has now become the latest pin up girl and the darling of the Indian masses. Good for her I must say and good for India, finally we have other sports other than the religion of the country ‘cricket’ that are getting mileage. We have other heroes as well in Narain Karthikeyan (Formula 1 racing), Pankaj Advani (Snooker), Raghavendra Rathore (Shooting), who are non cricketing stars and there are more I have not mentioned about.
Mind you they are stars because of their own effort and not something that the sport’s governing body enabled them to be. They needed a lot of sponsorship and self funding to get to where they wanted to be. It has required a lot of zeal and dedication and the urge to do what they wanted to do, to be where they are today apart from their talent. They have paid the price to be a star today.
I’m sure in a country of millions there would be thousands who may be as talented or more who have not made it. They have lacked something these people have in plenty – perseverance. They may not be the best in the world as yet but they will get there, sooner than later, becasue they know where they are going. There is an anonymous saying that Johnnie Walker Whiskey uses in it's Keep Walking campaign - "The Whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going". The rest like you and me will be left sitting back on their couches and just left with having opinions about everything without having done anything.
posted by Jolvin Rodrigues at
7:04 AM
10 Comments:
I knew Maria Sharapova would kick Sania Mirza's butt, lol. Well, I'm a fan of Sharapova. Mirza matched Sharapova for power off the ground but her serve let her down. I am sure she will work on her serve and come back as a force to play against.
By
Anonymous, at Monday, September 05, 2005 10:34:00 AM
Igin - Time's not far when Sania will be in the top 5 along with Maria. Experience will change all that.
Ragnar - The world will believe that the man knows. That's how it is in this world, followers are aplenty.
By
Jolvin Rodrigues, at Tuesday, September 06, 2005 3:42:00 AM
the world may not know what the man knows. but the world knows what the man does not know, that the man suffers from delusions of grandeur. he "thinks" that he has followers.
By
Anonymous, at Friday, September 16, 2005 3:48:00 PM
@Anon - Well to each his own, some call them delusions, some call them passion. You have a choice to look at it positively or negatively.
By
Jolvin Rodrigues, at Monday, September 19, 2005 1:08:00 AM
coloring your view, "positive" or "negative" - same difference -it does not change what is. whatever happened to being realistic and seeing it for what it is,rather than hide behind a label. in the words of extreme (of pornografitti fame). there are three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth. the truth is its own best defence.
By
Anonymous, at Monday, September 19, 2005 1:11:00 PM
@Anon: You are just being paranoid about the world, and believe me people smell paranoia much like dogs smell fear. Is that why you continue to hide behind the anon tag while airing your views on the world. The truth however is that our vulnerabilities and fears are the ones that weigh us down, because we spend too much time hiding them from others. Let loose man, long distances are traveled best with no extra baggage, that's the difference between achievers and non achievers. Yes this is my view, whether that is the truth I don't know. Maybe it is maybe it is not, the truth can be with either or neither of us. Truth is not the third side of every story.
BTW - You can still choose to remain anonymous - thanks for this dialog.
By
Jolvin Rodrigues, at Tuesday, September 20, 2005 11:10:00 PM
the truth, however elusive, is a side nevertheless. whether or not it is the third side will depend upon where you begin counting, no?... we're on the same page here, i agree with you - the truth is relative.
prejudice stinks just as much as paranoia does. only paranoia, if ever, i do to myself. prejudice is your spit in my face. two words sum up my argument this far and the point i have been making consistently all along, "reality check". "just because you say you're not paranoid does not mean that they are not after you!" remember?. question is, what are you afraid of sport?
cause unless you are afraid (of being proved wrong), there would be no retort. therefore the compulsion to defend your "point of view", which is but an egoic mental standpoint based on your conditioning this far. it would seem like i am guilty of the same. which brings us to a dilemma. how does one express the dangers of being a last word freak, without being one?
using a label, own or assumed, does not make you any more real in the virtual world, than it makes you real in the "real" world. it merely classifies, categorizes, brands the illusion and puts it in a box. i don't need a label. i need only take a mental stance, and the prejudice will flow from your quarter just the same. prejudice is the original sin. but the irony is (and yet another dilemma) you cannot recognize it in others without first sitting in judgement yourself.
By
Anonymous, at Sunday, September 25, 2005 5:30:00 AM
@ ragnar. well put. i see your point.
if one is neither here nor there, then one is saying nothing. a stance must be taken. and every stance, every point-of-view, given its relative premise, can be rationalized away as the truth.
if absolutism (in theory albeit) is the only truth there is, then everything relative must be an illusion and vice-versa. relativity only "is" when we have our senses, our faculties available to us. perhaps absolutism is not such a stranger in death.
maybe mathematics has a way of better expressing and explaining away the duality of it all! a lesser mortal like yours truly takes succour in the more accessible spiritual theories, psychology and then of course there is psychiatry for the severely affected!
By
Anonymous, at Monday, September 26, 2005 3:14:00 PM
@anon: Absolutism or relativity is a matter of perception or one's standpoint. Whether that standpoint is through colored lenses, spiritualism, psychology, learnings etc; it's immaterial. End of the day the person will follow the perception not the reality. Truth is hence a perception, because truth is relative.
@ragnar: Good thought. I agree absolutism is academic. Perception that becomes a reality.
By
Jolvin Rodrigues, at Wednesday, September 28, 2005 1:15:00 AM
absolute: (oxford university press) not relative, not comparative. absolutism, in this context, the objective opinion as opposed to the subjective. relativity: the opposite idea. (as in einstein's) defined by the presence of space, therefore time and entities / objects to compare.
the absolute enormous unity: an idea defined by the absence of space, time or even the senses... be damned hard to perceive when you don't even exist?! "perceiving" the absolute in this context, as suggested, is therefore an absurd proposition.
fanaticism, as santayana puts it, is redoubling your efforts when you've forgotten your aim. or do we shoot first and then call whatever we shoot the target? how does one bask in one's own glory, decree the difference in between achievers and non-achievers and expect the world to buy one's definition of achievement? which is more pathetic, the condescension, the digression, the redundant profferings of a point already concurred or the cheap psychological tricks employed by the relatively stupid to boost the already brilliant to bridge the "complexity" gap?
By
Anonymous, at Wednesday, September 28, 2005 7:28:00 AM
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