London has gone crazy.
Tubes, hotels, restaurants, roads- everywhere, Royal wedding has become a fever. I see pizzas, cakes, dolls, comics, films being made on the royal couple. BBC and other news channels I am addicted to, have pompously broadcasted the countdown for the wedding.
As this week dawned, hundreds of ardent supporters have been camping around Westminster Abbey. There are fans grumbling, pushing elbowing for space, amidst cameramen and reporters. As the dress rehearsals start, everyone literally jumps in. When Prince Harry comes in his royal car, it becomes a breaking news, as if nothing else is important.
Be it Sainsbury’s, Tesco or even local shops, hundreds of cups, cards, souvenirs of the royal wedding are flooding everywhere, trying their level best to coax the customers. Indeed its a gala affair. Indeed.
After Prince Charles and Lady Diana married, the Britons have been eagerly waiting for this new auspicious revelry. More than them, its William and Catherine who have faced the twists and turns, the rebukes that sarcastically commented their relationships, the frivolous comment of Kate Middleton’s family not being royal, so and so forth.
Eventually, as a simple lady as I am, I do respect the fact that their love story is finally approaching towards a happy ending. And they, indeed have come a long way. It does seem like a fairy tale.
But then, I do not give a damn. And I have my reasons.
To start with, the journalist in me has been quite disturbed by the media space given to this ceremony when other important issues, rather deaths have been causing rampant bloodshed in the Middle East. In Syria, around 450 pro democracy protesters have been killed. In Libya, I cant even count the numbers, anymore. But when you look at the front page of the tabloids and local newspapers, the judgment of giving away most of the page presence to the wedding, sometimes, does boil my blood.
But then, thats what commercialization does. Thats a business now, more than a national celebration. Human emotions are being sold and purchased. And thats when, the beauty dies.
Secondly, its a wedding. For me, marriages are very sacred and private affairs. It can also be because of my deep rooted trust in the Indian culture. Sadly, I do not see the value in such a massive public display of a love marriage. But then again, to each, his own.
Thirdly and most importantly, what disturbed me was the expenditure on the royal wedding. In one of the tweets I read ‘spending up to $60M on a #RoyalWedding when you owe $1 trillion in national debt? There’s hope for you yet, British Empire.’
Hundreds of people are facing the employment cuts, everyday, in London alone. Several are living in the most egregious circumstance. Britain herself is plunging into recession and still fighting it for the past 2 years. There are NATO officials who are not able to be precise in their operations because they do not have finance to invest in fighter jets.
Sadly, Royal wedding is not an investment. Its just an episode, a process, a ceremony or an event.
But then, I shall go and attend it. Its also a history in making, a part of royal essence, at least to some level. And more than that, a happy ending to a beautiful love story!
shubhdachaudhary 