Queen of the Moment

Sakina had to admit it. Her parents were officially elderly. They were beginning to look fragile to her and she began to value every last moment with them. So many of their peers were suffering from decreased mobility, memory loss- or had sadly gone. Sometimes, all of a sudden she would begin to cry uncontrollably wishing she could be there for them permanently. Why did they live so far away from each other? Surely they should have met more often? Unanswerable questions haunted her nightly like a white sheeted ghost in a badly written horror story.

She wanted to make up for all her failings and would go to stay with her family in London every chance she got.

During her most recent trip there with her three children, it was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The memoribilia in all the shops reminded her of the Silver Jubilee decades ago. She had been a different person living in a different world then. Her parents were active members of society, working, playing tennis and still driving.

But skin-heads, paki-bashing and the spectre of 300 years of colonization had meant that the Indians of that era were not entirely integrated into mainstream society. They felt allegiance to their country of choice, did not want to bite the hand that not only was feeding them but had also pulled them out of a third world country, and was housing them in a four bedroomed semi detached home in Burnley.

But Sakina's childhood had not been racism free. She had been spat on while walking to school-called 'dirty paki' more times than she could remember.

Her father had insisted that the Guardian be the only newspaper that entered the home. Within those sacred pages, Sakina began to find some meaning- she began to identify with the marginalized, the downtrodden. All this meant she could not entirely embrace the concept of royalty- the Silver Jubilee or later, the wedding Charles and Diana. She was never unpatriotic, just a little hesitant to embrace those Windsors.

But Sakina was a grown up now. She knew that no country had the perfect government, that most had invaded someone or other and had skeletons in the governmental closet. And most Muslim countries had more than mere bones in theirs.

There was a rumor that the reigning monarch would be coming to their local town.

Sakina's former socialist self and her Indian-daughter-who-respects-her-elders self argued for a while and the latter won. She dragged her reluctant American born sons to join the neighborhood throng. She did not think they would actually have a Royal sighting. Surely there would be too many crowds. But maybe her children would be glad of being part of it years later.

When they reached Burnley town center, they found a spot behind a large group of schoolchildren.

"The Queen has reached Catford!" pronounced a teacher in a Union Jack ballgown and a red, white and blue umbrella. She turned back and smiled at Sakina and her sons.

Faisal noted that the U.K. had superfans too.

"God knows why she's gone there! Have you come far?" enquired the patriotic teacher,her umbrella dripping all over the dress. Sakina remembered that Catford had one of the highest crime rates in London and was clearly looked down upon by Burnlians.

"Only from Chicago!" provided Sakina causing a little ripple in the nationalistic crowd.

"Burnley to Chicago?" asked Union Jack lady. "That is splendid. Well you'll see her soon enough."

The familiar London rain showers subsided. Umbrellas were being folded away. A helicopter whirred directly over-head.

Then the crowds began chanting:

"We want the Queen, we want the Queen".

A policeman mumbled something on a walkie talkie and the motorcade began.

A silver grey rolls royce wove its way through flag waving crowds and there she was. Queen Elizabeth II, in a pale blue dress with matching hat, veil and gloves- the Duke of Edinburgh beside her.

"She's beautiful"Sakina said to herself, wishing her mother could have experienced the moment but knew the walk would have been too much for her.

Faisal joked:

"She doesn't look a day over 83!"

Adam added:

"Was that Helen Mirren?"

Despite all their wisecracks, they had captured the entire episode on their iphones and had already relayed it to their virtual worlds via instagrams and facebook status updates.

"Will you be able to show your grandma back at the house?" enquired Sakina and was assured that they would be able to project the little clip onto the television.

Sakina's sons handed her a plastic bag.

"Look what we got for you" they said.

She unraveled a newspaper which turned out to be that day's Guardian.

"It has a special on the Queen's visit to Burnley" Adam explained.

Sakina folded it up carefully and placed it in her large handbag.
"Grandma will love this" she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpmxSObq7eI&feature=youtube_gdata_