LoC : Love over Country

The news that tennis ace Sania Mirza is all set to marry ex-Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik on the 15^th of April this year has caught everyone by surprise..But at a time wen Indo-Pak relations r on the slide down, this news is a welcome relief..There is nothing like more civil society contact and across-the-border romances and marriages to ease tension between the two generally hostile neighbours..It has been seen that in societies where there r a greater number of inter-faith or inter-ethnic marriages there is less likelihood of ethnic violence or tension..This theorem has proved itself right in some of the most divided and violence-prone parts of the world such as the Balkans..

But there is more to this Sania-Shoaib engagement..It goes onto show that borders, even the most contentious such as the one dividing Pakistan and India, r essentially artificial constructions..That is the reason this article is titled LoC(Love over Country)..Sania and Shoaib most probably met for the first time in Australia wen Sania had jst crashed out of the Australian open and Shoaib’s team had faced defeat at the hands of the Oz...They kept on meeting in Dubai most probaly and there, it seems, their luv blossomed..

The Sania-Shoaib engagement has of course attracted attention because they r extremely popular sports entities..Sports has traditionally been a barrier breaker between two nations..Even wen relations hav been rocky, Cricket has always been able to bring the people of these two rival nations a tad bit closer..The warm reception that the Indian cricket team got during its tour of Pakistan in 2004 stands out..Shoaib, showing true sportsman spirit, seems to be well aware of the role of sports in bridging the boundaries of the two nations..That’s y he has said that he would be the proudest husband if Sania bags a medal for India in the 2012 Olympics..

Along wit sports there is another medium that has been playing a very important role in uniting the spirit of the two nations into one is Movies..Esp Bollywood..Movie's of Srk, Aamir, Amitabh and all run to full packed houses wenever they get a chance to be released there..Even Pakistani movies hav earned a lot of respect in Indian markets..Khuda kay liye and Ramchand Pakistani hav garnered much respect from the Indian critics..

It shows that there r certain things that r beyond the borders and the politics attached to it..


Sports, Movies and above all LUV..!!









Jaishree Ram,
Prats..