Of all the funny headlines we’ve ever read about Meghan Markle, this is the funniest:
“Royal Staff Grumpy After Meghan Markle and Harry Given New Suite At Buckingham Palace”
Yes! STAFF, GRUMPY! We thought these kinds of conversations about nayee bahu and ghar ki paramparaa and domestic staff being tradition’s gatekeepers ( apart from being housekeepers) was the kind of thing only ‘Indian housewives’ are supposed to be into, but apparently not. Going by the way the domestic life and jethani -devrani relationship between Meghan and Kate are portrayed in international tabloids, the whole world seems to love a Saas- Bahu soap!
Kate as badi bahu , seen as the modern torchbearer for family traditions, and Meghan as chhoti bahu a new American entrant who must do all she can to fit in quickly, but who with her husband chose to move out of the ‘ joint family’ home Kensington Palace. If the twists and turns of the domestic life of the Windsors as scripted by the tabloids is not an Indian soap with a foreign cast, then we don’t know what is.
Meghan is compared and contrasted to Kate in international tabloids in everything she says, does and wears and spends. The bill to refurbish their home Frogmore Cottage, and the ‘rifts’ she and Harry ‘signal’ by unfollowing the Cambridges on Instagram, are more than enough for a couple of season’s worth of episodes and you won’t even need to drag it out with the strobe shot on repeat.
Who Gets the Tijori Ki Chaabi ?
Like all the new brides in the soaps we grew up with, Meghan can never truly catch a break from judgemental samaaj which in this case are tabloid news junkies. As the new daughter-in-law to the khandaan, she will always be compared to her jethani Kate, who the subtext reads did it first, did it better, and will eventually manage the tijori ki chaabi, which in this case just happens to be an erstwhile Empire’s bounty.
Headlines of her unwitting hitchkis that are apparently not in keeping with the family convention are mostly desperate attempts at fault finding for the sake of it. The latest ‘scandal’ being a dohar or baby muslin blanket. Yes guys, the dohar she used on one of baby Archie’s first outings was made in India, which means it must have breached international labour law standards, right?
And then there was this September’s Vogue guest-edited by Meghan which kicked up a controversy because the cover bore similarity to another book and also since it seemed to make a socio-political statement when the Royals are supposed to be politically neutral at all times. Such it is said is their khandaani paramparaa. Come on!
Long Live the Rebel Bride!
But just like not all Indian soap opera bahus are pushovers, neither is the actual Indian bride and nor is Meghan. The badass bride is an Indian phenomenon too, breaking the barriers of custom and setting new traditions. While this Bengali bride refused to do the customary thanks and goodbyes to her parents, saying that she will be back whenever she wants, Meghan did her bit by showing her post-baby bump, wearing ‘sleeveless’ clothing and making political, feminist statements in her everyday work.
Her endlessly positive outlook, professional ‘past’ and work on contemporary global issues that matter have earned her the title of Woke Duchess and are going to ensure that the Windsor soap opera never gets stale for more seasons than we can count!
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