Right in the beginning of this small little blog post, i must confess that my training as a lecturer in English Studies has obviously inured me to the decolonization debate. Given my liking for French and Spanish, i am rather well-read even in those theories of decolonization. I have completed quite a number of online courses dealing with the concept. In brief, nobody can accuse me of being a besotted Anglophile.
Yet i would like to state very clearly that i thank my upbringing, both parental and educational. Want to know why? Well, unlike certain oh-so-called sophisticated reportage in India, i have not started grumbling that the Queen's funeral cost nine million.
It is, in my opinion, downright indecent to bring up such debates for the sake of sensationalism. True, the British economy is not exactly doing very well. Is it necessary even then to discuss this issue now? Show a few stray examples of non-British citizens protesting in the "not my king" way?
True, there might be two rather awkward instances of the future king snapping at a leaky pen or at a laggard of an aide. Sure, he should have controlled his temper. But, after all, he, too, is a human being, who is suffering a grievous personal loss, who is facing a difficult context.
Does not he have the leeway of a slip or two? Do not many, in fact, most amongst us, get rather shirty under stress? Come on! Gossiping cannot be reporting! Would not it be decent to leave people alone, at least when they are grieving???
Similarly, why worry about a day being declared as a holiday or talk unnecessarily of the funeral expenditure? Simple fact! If the ordinary British citizens were so irritated with the finances, they would not have lined up for hours on end for a few seconds of paying the Queen their last respects! They, too, would be worried about their income getting lost, right?
Why, a Beckham was waiting it out in the queue for twelve, or was it eighteen, hours! Can you imagine Tendulkar facing that kinda possibility in India? Forget a mere mortal, even the darshan of the divinity would be 'managed' for a celebrity hereabouts!
Coming to brass tracks, oh, yes, the tax payers' money getting wasted due to the funeral and the state holiday! Well, yes, if i am not mistaken, the Queen was the first royal to initiate the process of paying all sorts of taxes, even on huge royal endorsements and warrant holdings by the royal family.
Well, moreover, the transmission rights across the world must have generated a huge revenue, right? Why, many a stars in India have fab weddings to sell the overseas rights, not to forget the IPL tamasha!
Come on, after all, England is known as the shopkeepers' nation. At least, remember that triviality. Why should one be crass, indecent in an ugly way even in the face of death, and pretend to present it as journalistic debate!?! Indeed, we are living in the post-truth era, and Mr. Trump seems to have many, far too many, indeed, competitors!
This does not mean that royalty should not change. It must, and, I suppose the new king himself is supposedly thinking of trimming it. Yet every occasion has a gravitas, an ethical standpoint. I suppose, the Queen's death is indeed the end of an era. Would not it be deemed decent to leave people alone at least for a few hours? Hunting for happening headlines does not mean denying decency, I believe!
Pratima@Being human(e) is far, far more important than denying decency and being doctrinaire!
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