Open Letter To #SakshiMalik

Dear Sakshi,

It’s the age of open letters, and I thought I’d write you one :-)

First of all, huge congratulations to you on bringing India its long-awaited glory. I am proud of you and so are a billion Indians. Unimaginably proud!

Unimaginably proud because you won the medal, not because of what our nation and government did for you, but despite it. Unimaginably proud because your biggest competition was not Aisuluu Tynybekova (or any other wrestler for that matter), but the apathy of which I’m sure you’ve been treated through all these years.

Unimaginably proud because you fought through random policies like “one egg per meal” and “175 ml of pasteurised milk” and basically crappy living & training conditions. Unimaginably proud because you fought through a system that paid lip-service to “Mauka, mauka” while never giving you one.

Unimaginably proud because in a patriarchal society where women are only behens and bahus; you said “Screw that”, spread your wings and soared high.

Now for the bad news.

Today on the auspicious day of Raksha Bandhan I thought, as a brother-you’ve-never-met, its my duty to warn you of what’s coming next:

1. Once you are back, politicians, bureaucrats and sports-officials will get hundreds of pictures clicked with you, subtly implying that their blessings and benevolence got you there. This will last a couple on months till they milk this wave.

2. Once you are back, news channels will invite you in screaming matches, err, I mean, debates for your opinion on the “sorry state of sports in India”. They will ask you loaded questions, hoping you will slip up and create some controversy for yourself... and TRPs for them.

3. Once you are back, you will get to endorse some products, probably geysers, ball-point pens, or weather-resistant pneumatic types... perhaps even a women’s two-wheeler (the latter two, cause brand managers, will see alignment with values like durability, independence, Desh bhakti, etc). This will last six months... 12 tops. After that, our cricket-obsessed nation will go back to worshipping cricketers and ignoring sportspersons that have excelled like crazy in other sports.

4. Once you are back, the government will probably allot you a flat and give you some cash reward... at a ceremony that costs more than that reward itself. That’s your payout for decades of single-minded focus.

5. Once you are back, ordinary Indians like me will trend you on Twitter with hashtags like #SakshiMalikRocks and #ImWithSakshi. Some publications and mainly a botox-infested socialites may also come up with something horrendous like #SexySakshi. But don’t worry, we’ll forget about it when Bhai’s next blockbuster is up for release, or when the next Gau-Raksha controversy stirs up.

Random people will call this medal “our” victory; when neither them nor the nation had nothing to do with it.

But dear sister (we just established that like two paragraphs back, in case you forgot); remember that you will mean much more to all the little girls that are awestruck and inspired by you today and me. Little girls and boys that see a living example of someone that said “Screw that” and shone thorugh all the muck. If there is a “keechad mein kamal” story – You are it!

I hope that one day my daughter follows your example and says “Screw that”, every time someone tried to scuttle her dreams. I also hope, by then, India’s politicians and sports officials loosen their death-grip around sportspersons’ necks... and let them soar high. Sincerely,

The unimaginably proud brother-you’ve-never-met,

Anuraag Saxena