Everyone is in a tizzy over rumours that cricketer Hardik Pandya and model Natasa Stankovic are ready to end their four-year-old marriage. As speculation reaches a fevered pitch, it’s Stankovic’s name being dragged through the mud. Suddenly, she’s the gold digger, the woman who will walk away with 70 per cent of Pandya’s assets.
I’m not shocked. I’m bored. It’s always the women who are blamed or painted as money-grabbing spouses. Nothing has changed. It happened to Malaika Arora when her marriage to Arbaaz Khan ended back in 2017. Even A-lister Karisma Kapoor was not spared after she left Sunjay Kapur. There are many who still blame Sussanne Khan for the split with Hrithik Roshan even though the exes appear to be good friends in the public eye. All these women have careers, fans and followers. But that doesn’t protect them from vicious gossip.
The sad part is that this is not limited to the glitzy and glamorous celebrity world. In India, where marriage is religion, an obsession, women are blamed for divorce. Whenever a marriage ends, people start questioning the woman and her motives—neighbours, relatives, and even so-called friends.
Typical witch-hunt
There’s no confirmation that Stankovic and Pandya are actually heading for a divorce. But people are pointing out plenty of signs. Stankovic had removed Pandya’s surname from her Instagram. She was asked about the divorce by a journalist and she did not say anything. And she was not seen in IPL matches.
The meme factory has gone into overdrive. One suggests that marriage followed by divorce is a good business idea for women looking to get rich quickly. ‘Marry a wealthy man, have kids with him, and divorce him and ask for property’.
It shows the real face of society. People are obsessed with other people’s lives and pass judgements, especially on women.
People have become Sherlock Holmes on their own to investigate the celebrity couple’s marriage. They are saying that Natasa had deleted the pictures on Instagram and that Pandya did not wish his wife on her birthday. These are cheap assumptions, school-level stalking. And that adults are indulging in this is shameful.
This is a typical witch hunt that kicks off when a wealthy man’s marriage is about to end.
And in the Pandya-Stankovic case, we don’t even know if there is actually going to be a divorce. The curiosity of people to know everything about a public figure is not new. Social media has only emboldened this behavior. What is sad is that instead of calling out this public shaming behaviour people are happily participating in it.
In Malaika Arora’s case, she was accused of breaking up her marriage for career advancement and even criticised for her relationship with a younger man, Arjun Kapoor. Karisma Kapoor was accused of not being able to manage her career and personal life. People questioned her parenting skills as well.
Sussanne Khan was also among those who were questioned for asking for a settlement. Society always ends up questioning women, no matter who is responsible. But nobody talks about how men choose to marry younger women. If a relationship between two people ends, then both are equally responsible for it. But in Indian society, women are the villains.
When Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide, Rhea Chakraborty was put on media trial. She was called a witch and whatnot. Nothing was proven but she became a villain in people’s eyes.
TV actor Shweta Tiwari was criticised for both her divorces. People on the internet said she could not handle her marriage.
Society cannot accept the fact that women are taking a stand for themselves and they are not ready to live in toxic marriages anymore like before.
Stankovic and Pandya have drawn a lot of attention in the past too. Pandya got engaged to Stankovic in January 2020, and that’s when their relationship became popular. Even then Stankovic was trolled—many didn’t believe that a fair-skinned model could fall in love with a dark-skinned cricketer.
Stankovic is a Serbian actor and model. She relocated to India to have a career in Bollywood. She is known for her role in the dance number “Aiyo Ji” in Satyagraha (2013).
There is also another rumour making rounds that all this could be a PR stunt to promote Pandya’s image. Whatever it is, the Indian public needs to stop poking their nose in people’s personal lives. Cut them some slack.
Views are personal.
Dear Nootan Mam Thankyou for this great article but my question is who is interested in this news of divorce. We are more busy with other issues and I find the media people these days publishing useless news . Please let me be clear that I am not telling you that you are doing wrong thing. I am talking about other media outlets . I also want to bring to your notice about gold digger issues. These days girls are misusing the law of india to extract money on the name of Divorce and honorable SC has also accepted this and made provision so that the boys are not harassed
Nootan ji, everytime it is the woman who demands alimony from the man, then it is obvious the woman will be trolled. The man slaps the woman, he is thrown behind bars, the woman slaps the man, she is lauded as brave. The man and his family blackmails the woman, the law catches them, the woman and her family blackmails the man, the man is at fault most of the times. Why is this trend ongoing? Plz answer and you will find your answer to the question you have raised in this article.
If she doesnt want herself to be called a gold digger and other “financially independant” girls who are applying for divorce dont want to be labelled as such. Stop asking for Alimony and Maintenance from someone whom you dont want any relations with. Until and unless they can’t a term such as “gold digger” is a rightful label. And they should wear it with pride on their forehead ki haan maine apne pati ka mehnat se kamaya hua paisa chheen liya taaki mai aaram se zindagi bita saku aur woh jaake apne aap ko bech de lekin maintenance dena na bhule warna jail mei daal denge.
Same old victim play. Tell us why she should not be considered as a gold digger? Why would one do a Prenup of 70% wealth. She left her handsome but struggler TV actor boyfriend for an AMAZING Looking rich cricketer with 70% Prenup. I mean come on….stop victim play. days are over of such victim plays.