One of the most natural ways of greeting a beloved person is with an embrace or a hug. This form of greeting is very prevalent among the Arabs were even strangers greet each other with not one but three embraces. It could well be that the more the number of embraces the greater the warmth exuded. It is very normal for members of a family or close friends to embrace and when it comes to greeting a parent or grand parent nothing else would do. The first time I heard of an embrace causing a flutter and being the feed story for the grape vine was last evening. The embrace was between two very high profile individuals, one being the wife of the most powerful man in the world and the other a reigning monarch for the past 57 years. Well you have guessed it right Michelle Obama and Queen Elizabeth II were the participants of this embrace.
Queen Elizabeth II is the third longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. It has been repeated many times by the press as to how seriously the Queen takes her role as the representative of the Church of England and how she considers it her most sacred duty to remain the monarch. To her it is as if she has been ordained by the Almighty to perform and any misgiving on her part she would consider as a sin. The question of abdicating the throne so that her son the Prince of Wales who is well into his 60’s takes over just does not enter her mind. She would consider such a thought as being sacrilegious. With this being her mindset, it is but natural that she is revered and treated as being in a plane far higher than the rest of mankind. All this gives the queen a surreal personality.
The British Royal Family never fails to hold the average Indian with awe and respect. This is thanks to the almost 300 years of British rule in India. I am one such person who gawks on seeing anything connected with the British Royal Family. I remember the first time I went to see the Buckingham Palace and stood at the gates mesmerized watching the Changing of the Guards. I have visited more than once The Tower of London where the crown jewels are displayed. According to family history I have seen Queen Elizabeth when she came on her first official visit to India in the year1961. I was a four year old and have a very hazy memory of standing on the side walk in Santhome/Foreshore Estate. What made this happen was the fact that my father was on security duty with the Queen. We have a prized photo of my father and the Queen in the same frame. My father has a soft corner for the Queen as both of them share their year of birth.
The queen being held in such a high pedestal, the embrace in a way shattered the myth. It made the queen seem like any other person in the room. To Michelle Obama it may have been the right thing to do. With Equality being the key word, she just went ahead and did what one would do on seeing an elderly person. To her the Queen was just another eighty three year old Head of State. (It would definitely be wrong to attribute this gesture to one of arrogance.) It is a well known fact that the Americans are no fans of Royalty (Princess Diana being an exception). They still hold it against the crown little realizing that if it were not for the English speaking immigrants from the other side of the Atlantic America would not be what it is today.
The President and the First Lady are two individuals who have earned the respect of the whole world. They believe in themselves and they have the ability to make others see things from their perspective. I would even go to the extent of saying that they are two selfless individuals who have worked their way up so that they are endowed with the power to make the world a better place. In that manner I hold them in high esteem but then I can’t have it any other way what with one of them being six feet two inches tall and the other a good five feet eleven inches!!!
The Queen it is said enjoyed the company and seems to have been happy about being embraced. May be the Queen too was in awe of the Obamas and this was her way of appreciating their principles. In this respect the embrace takes a deeper meaning than that of a greeting. It becomes an endorsement of everything the Obamas believe in. Without uttering a word, so much was conveyed. This I would say is the result of fifty seven years of diplomacy and innumerable Prime Ministers. A great gesture from Her Majesty!!
The next time when an embrace would cause more than a flutter would be the one between two men who share the same name albeit with a single letter change!!!
Friday, April 3, 2009
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Two people to be admired for their poise.Didn't get the last part.Whom did u mean
ReplyDeleteYou don't mean the President of USA and of course .....do you?
ReplyDeleteYou have got exactly what I meant
ReplyDelete