Story of star-crossed love

Blood and gore, panic, conflicts, sectarian strife, protests and wars are the words we hear and read almost on a daily basis. Unfortunately, at the slightest mention of these words, Middle East comes to one’s mind. In these uncertain times, one needs something to read, write or watch that could — at least for a brief period — change one’s mood. In quest of such a distraction, I thought of sharing a true love story with my readers.
This is the story of a young Saudi boy who fell in love with an Australian girl. Let us go back into the past. It is the year 1972; both the boy and the girl are at the tender age of 16. A period of time in life when we see endless possibilities in life; our minds and souls are fresh and devoid of all sorts of hatred and prejudices. Well, readers stop thinking about the Shakespearean star-crossed lovers. Ours is the story of one-sided love. The two never got the chance to come face to face. The two never met and will never meet. They live thousands of miles apart.
The young Saudi is yours truly. And the young Australian gal is the superstar and Olympian of the yesteryears who had clinched three gold medals, one silver and a bronze medal in the Munich Summer Olympics’ swimming championship in 1972. Her name was Shane Gould. It all started in around 1969 when I was a junior high student in Al-Ahsa. I still remember my first English teacher, Mr. Kent. He was from New Zealand. Interestingly, at that time I was under the impression (like many of my mates) that Australia and New Zealand were one country. It was only when I took part in a quiz show; I came to know that these were two different countries.
I don’t exactly recall why and how feelings of love for Australia blossomed in my heart. But the more I read about it, the more those feelings grew stronger. I was fascinated by its history and about the fact that Australia had more camels than Saudi Arabia. It was during those days only when I realized that Tasmania and the Tasmanian devil, are not only parts of the imaginary worlds created by Hollywood on the silver screen. Well, we cannot blame only ourselves for this ignorance. Australia was never a hot topic in the media. Even until the 80s’, Australia made it to the headlines during ANZUS, a joint military exercise of the US, New Zealand and Australia. Or when some huge blaze engulfed Australian dry lands or some shark or crocodile attacked humans in the Australian waters. Very few people knew that Australia was a highly developed and rich country with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. This country rose to great height in a relatively short period of time as it came into being in 1901.
So, at a time when I thought Australia was as far away as the moon, the Munich Summer Olympics began in the August of 1972. The Germans had made superb arrangements for the television coverage of the event. Being fond of swimming, I started to follow two Olympians with great interest. Those swimmers were breaking every world record with great ease. One was an American, Mark Spitz and the other was an Australian, Shane Gould. And being a young boy and an admirer of Australia, I fell in love with Shane Gould. Despite the fact that Gould was a media shy person, her astonishing feats made her the center of attraction at a very tender age. Not very fond of the media glitz and glamour, Gould decided to retire at the age of 17. I really felt sad upon hearing the news of her retirement.
About two years after the Munich Summer Olympics, I went to the United States on a full scholarship and watched many sports events. I saw what sports could do to a society. Athletes could become the best goodwill ambassadors. Sport is the shortest way to bring countries together and we all remember how the American-Chinese ties started. It was through a Ping Pong match. During my stay in the US and visit to different parts of the world, I noticed that not many were familiar with Australia. Many still think that Sydney is the capital of Australia.
Gould could have proven to be a great goodwill ambassador of Australia. Even after her retirement at the age of 17 in 1973, she remained a very well respected figure in the world of sports and social media for a long time. Times have changed. Just about 10 years ago, when I used to advise young Saudis, keen to improve their knowledge of English language, to go and study in Australia. They would ask in surprise. Australia? Who goes to Australia?
Thanks to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who in 2006 announced a huge scholarship program offering free scholarships to Saudis to study in top class educational institutions around the globe. Nowadays, there are more than ten thousand Saudis studying in Australia’s top universities. And now, many young Saudis simply call Australia their second home. Yes, Saudi Arabia and Australia enjoy good relations in almost all fields of life. But it is the relations between people that could make a difference.
Nowadays when I read about the current happenings in Australia, the face of the Olympian illumines my heart. Shane Gould could have speeded up the introduction of Australia to the world. Now, where is this Australian superstar that I admired about 40 years ago? To be frank I don’t have the slightest clue, but, I know she is somewhere under the beautiful Australian sky.

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