A standing ovation for the loser
My parents always used to say to me, “It’s not the taking part – it’s the winning that counts.
“Don’t ever come home with a D grade, Don’t ever bring shame on this family by coming last in the egg and spoon race, Who aims to be second? Unless you want to be someone’s second wife, and who wants leftovers?”
I went to the Olympics this year where I watched women’s boxing and men’s basketball. The atmosphere was euphoric, almost electric! I over heard one man saying, “This is better than drugs”. Everyone was happy, helpful, and there was a great sense of union and camaraderie amongst all the people watching.
I turned up to watch the women’s boxing not knowing who was fighting. There was a lot of British flag waving but then we are in Britain, but there were lots of people waving Indian flags too. It turned out that Mary Kom was fighting. She was the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Olympics. When she came into the ring, the packed arena erupted with shouts of her name. I was surprised at the reaction, I’d never heard of her before. Did people know who she was? Was she well-known? Was she good?
She was amazing and won her fight.
Most of the crowd was British and people stood up for her at the end of the match. I turned to the English man standing next to me and said,
“Why is everyone going mad?”
“Well it’s amazing to see an Indian women boxer, and she’s so good. All those years of repression, not wasted at all!”
The people we will to win, says a lot about us.
When Mohammed Farah was running the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, I didn’t cheer him on because he was Muslim, or Somali born, or black. I cheered him on because he is British and I wanted Britain to win. Would I have cheered on a Pakistani man just because my parents are from Pakistan? No. Because I don’t feel it. And I’d probably pass out from shock anyway, “What’s a Pakistani man doing in the 5,000 meter final? Hasn’t he got any IT to do?”
Some Pakistani’s will refer to me as a ‘coconut’, some will say I’m a traitor, some will say “who does she think she is? She’s not one of us”.
But why should we support people just because they are the same religion or have the same skin colour as us? Even when someone from the same background as us does something atrocious like murder their wife or dye their beard orange, we are meant to stand there in support and say “Well done”.
Instead of “you idiot, why did you do that? Now the whole world will think we’re psycho’s with a genetic mutation”.
Sarah Attar was the first Saudi track athlete to take part in the Olympics, the Saudi Olympic committee only allowed women to take part this June and the female athletes walked behind the male Saudi athletes in the Opening Ceremony.
She ran in her 800 meters heats wearing a hijab in the sweltering heat and came last. 80,000 people gave her a standing ovation. They didn’t stand for the winner or those that came second or third, they stood up for the woman who came last and who finished 45 seconds after the winner. That’s what I love about the British people, always supporting the under dog and doing what they feel.
I didn’t hear anyone calling those 80,000 people traitors, or Saudi lovers. They did what they felt was right at the time. If only all cultures were like this instead of thinking that we constantly owe something to each other, and that we have to be seen standing in unison even though we don’t like or agree with the people we’re standing with.
We don’t owe anybody anything; our only job is to be loyal to the truth.
Sometimes it’s not the winning that counts; it really is the taking part.
The author is an award winning stand-up comedian and writer. She has performed all over the world. A columnist for The Guardian UK, she was named Columnist of the Year at the prestigious PPA Awards. Find out more from her website.
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Ms. Shazia Mirza you are lovely and beautiful because you are righteous and virtuous and good
Beautifully written, no matter what other reader’s comments are.
Well written though the gaps in logic are baffling
but like they say, sometimes its not the logic (or lack of) that matters, but the writing!
Kindly read The Quran, the final commandments of Almighty God, then your eyes will open that why should you support Muslims?
May Almighty God guide and give us strength to follow His commandments!
Amen!
To Aman,
Firstly very disappointing, it clearly demonstrates your inability to understand the importance of society and the role Women play for society to grow and excel. I am proud to be Muslim and thank Allah (SWT) that we have a Muslim sister representing a) the concept of Hijab in modern society b) representation of Muslim Women around the world c) competing in a highly challenging sport and making it through the tough training to reach such a stage in her life.
Hussain, I think the inability to understand is clearly at your end, my comment was not at all directed towards the runner, women, Hijab or rather being a Muslim, it was directed towards the writer. Please read my moment again as some people need to read a couple of times to understand the context
*Comment
Since the writer is an award winning comedy writer that says it all. You proved ur self as a British born confused desi who refused to accept her true identity as a Pakistani origin , trying to be more British which still consider you a desi paki migrant. Don’t worry nobody is asking you to applaude for my country men we have 180 million back home to cheer them up.
Well said and by an honest and outspken Shazia. Salute to you and Dawn.
First of all you are british so no one in Pakistan will call you a traitor! Second why be a hypocrite and talk about feeling right while your article’s point of view shows a one sided view? It’s clear that you are facing some issues in your environment and should solve them in britain by addressing your people there.
What you expect out of such writers. No wonder the author is comedian. And she proves it. “If only all cultures were like this instead of thinking that we constantly owe something to each other… ” … you gotta be kidding me. This very culture is the founder of bureaucracy wherever this “culture” ruled and believe me bureaucracy is mainly the business of “constantly owing something to each other”. I wish you had read the history before presenting one piece of a puzzle and claiming it to be the whole picture…
Well said Shazia …But I wouldn’t agree with all that you wrote…..first of all its natural & inborn to support the country where you are from….there might be people who will judge you for having a Pakistani descent but supporting Britain… that’s not the case always, Pakistanis do appreciate & support other countries in sports/olympics…….for eg: Sri Lanka-Australia Cricket World Cup Final Lahore (1996) it was packed stadium people cheering for both teams,Sri-lankan players felt they were on home ground….. Brazil has been popular in Pakistan for soccer……similarly English soccer premier league is so popular in Pakistan….People watch n cheer for Boxing and MMA…I could go on and on……all nations have good and bad people carrying good & bad perceptions
(Because I don’t feel it. And I’d probably pass out from shock anyway, “What’s a Pakistani man doing in the 5,000 meter final? Hasn’t he got any IT to do?”) <<< well i feel that's really harsh of you to say that, we do have good athletes too… we are more than IT. .
You are a coconut and a traitor. Who do you think you are? You are not one of us.
Shazia, those people were clapping for her because she is what they think needs to be done in making the muslim world uniform and follow their values and agenda. I have no problem with her running but I am sure if you had a western woman burning a flag of U.S, she would have 80,000 taliban cheering her on. Does not mean they are cheering for the underdog or out of love, rather someone how shares there values and furthers their agenda!
If only we could love to love the truth ,respect the true feelings and have the courage to speak and stand up for the truth………..our lives would be simple and peaceful. I think the principal applies to all aspects of life. Well said and documented.