Our heartiest wishes, Madam Ardern!
Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern is the antipodal opposite of today's leaders — especially the hyper-masculine, mentally muscular, alpha presidents and PMs — who not only pull out all the stops to retain or regain power but also do it in a monomaniacal way where any other relationship, let alone of a romantic kind like marriage, is seen as a pointless, harmful distraction.
Well, Ardern got married last weekend to her partner of a decade, with dinner and dancing and some 50-75 guests. The bride and groom had put on hold their nuptial plans during the onset of Covid, when Ardern was PM and masterfully handled the crisis.
Unlike the fanfare and media frenzy on everything and anything involving a public figure — and Ardern was a loved leader (her party may not have been) when she stepped down in January 2023 citing 'exhaustion' — New Zealand took their former PM's shaadi with quiet dignity and happy restraint. That leaders are human, and this very human-ness is to be celebrated along with their capabilities, is lost in some societies where both boss men and their countrymen love showy sacrifice and flexing sinews.
