The Queen Bee

My mother has become a kind of Queen Bee.

You see whenever she attends any family event, all the other women buzz around her now and ask her questions about how the wedding planning is going.

These events include funerals. Yes. Funerals…….

Funerals are like any other Indian event for those that are not grieving or sincere, because you still adhere to the following rules:
1. You show up – because if you don’t you become a subject in the gossip circles for not being there when the family needs you
2. You wear the latest fashion – the Islamic cloaks come with a variety of embroided and beaded patterns these days.
3. You make sure everyone hears about your husband and children’s latest successes. Good PR is always important
4. You get the dirt on others
5. Express sympathy for the poor grieving family and discuss how they going to cope and relay details of the death to everyone that arrives. Do this with your best hushed voice to seem very torn up about it. Throw in a story about you and the dead person.

These rules only apply to those that are not actually particularly sad that the person died because they hardly know them anyway.

So yes, even at a funeral, people ask my mother about how the plans are going for the wedding.

In Indian standards she now holds a high seat in the hive.

I have brought home the honey and she is now a successful member of society.

My Fiancé isn’t really like honey though, I would say he more lemon sorbet. Sweet with a hint of sharp tang, yet refreshing and addictive.

Just like I like them, just enough bad boy so that I don’t develop an acute case of narcolepsy.

My mum is bit of a reject, because she doesn’t follow the rules very well. Except the fashion part. But then she is always fab, so it’s just natural for her to be up to date.

However times have changed, suddenly everyone has something to talk to her about. So they can squeeze all the details out of her.

It seems that weddings in Indianville is the height of social acceptance.

I am not sure my mum likes being a queen bee, she prefers peace and quiet. So the buzzing tends to get on her nerves.