Sania Mirza, currently ranked number one in the world in tennis doubles, has just released her autobiography, Ace against Odds, at the ripe, old age of 29! Better still, it was released by none other than Shah Rukh Khan, already a veteran of biographies.
Answering questions from Rajdeep Sardesai for India Today TV, Sania managed to embarrass the senior journalist into apologising on national television for a question, that, in his own words, he would “never have asked a male athlete.” The issue: when is she “settling” down? This transcript tells you the story very clearly:
Rajdeep: Amidst all the celebrityhood, when is Sania going to settle down? Is it going to be in Dubai? Is it going to be in any other country? What about motherhood… building a family… I don’t see all that in the book, it seems like you don’t want to retire just yet to settle down.
Sania: You don’t think I’m settled?
Rajdeep: You don’t talk about retirement, about raising a family, about motherhood, what’s life beyond tennis is going to be…
Sania: You sound disappointed that I’m not choosing motherhood over being number one in the world at this point of time. But I’ll answer your question anyway, that’s the question I face all the time as a woman, that all women have to face – the first is marriage and then it’s motherhood. Unfortunately that’s when we’re “settled” (air quotes), and no matter how many Wimbledons we win or number ones in the world we become, we don’t become settled. But eventually it will happen, not right now. And when it does happen I’ll be the first one to tell everybody when I plan to do that.
Rajdeep: I must apologise, I framed that question very badly. I promise you, you’re right, I would never ask this question to a male athlete…
Sania: I’m so glad, you see this love-hate relationship, you’re the first journalist to apologise to me on national television.
Sania also said that she hopes her achievements will set a precedent that “no girl is asked at the age of 29 as to when she is going to have a child when she’s number one in the world” when she is asked whether her book is about legacy, and how would want to be remembered by future generations.
Watch the full video here:
