Land of funerals & Weddings : Blog # 105

Land of funerals & Weddings

       Over the years, I have come to think of England as the land of funerals and weddings. The earliest memory that I have of England on a world stage is the funeral of Princess Diana. My mother says her memory of England is of Princess Diana’s wedding.

            The only time when there was a down play was when Prince Charles married Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall. But even that can be considered as subtle only if one were to compare it with the English standards. For the rest of the world, it was still widely publicized.

When the Queen’s mother left her people, the all too familiar Union Jack was spread out with the paraphernalia of the gleaming black cab carrying the coffin and a riot of red and black colors around it in the form of men and horses. A little earlier in the year before last, it was the wedding of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton which caught the British fantasy.

Even recently, it was the Iron lady, Margaret Thatcher’s funeral which had all of us looking towards Her Majesty’s Kingdom.

Having seen all this, no wonder Hugh Grant, the British actor agreed to do the movie, Four Funerals and a Wedding J. I wonder if the production house is British!

I am just wondering what the commoners of Britain has got to say to all this. Especially when the unemployment rates are at an all time high and when the youth of the country is struggling to find their identity! Is it the same way we feel when the red beacons bring our daily lives to a screeching halt here in the erstwhile colony?

            My intention is not to show the country or the royal family in poor light .I am just wondering how right it is to build a country’s diplomatic image or soft power around the lives of a handful of people. The only exception in recent times was the Olympics.

            A country with such a luminous lineage of scholars and artists and achievers should start looking beyond telecasting neatly lined up horse carriages ornate with bouquets and vibrantly dressed men of majesty.For once, we have outdone the west in this regard.     

                                                      

                                                                                                      Arun Babu

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