Shall I join the WI?

When I first moved to the village, 19 years ago, I joined the WI, but I didn't last. I found that a long evening in the village hall after a day at work was no good for me. To be honest, I found the organisation somewhat outdated and I did not feel that I fitted in at all. Talks tended to be a bit simplistic and male speakers rather superior. It was a far cry from work, where I was treated as an equal with the men. I didn't have time to bake a contribution for the supper either....

Now,  retired and perhaps more mellow, I'm considering rejoining. Tonight I went along as a guest. The subject was The Sikh Way of Life and there was one speaker listed. He is Cloud Singh, a British convert to Sikism. The young women, whose names I could not catch, are both British with Punjabi backgrounds.

At first, my toes curled up as Cloud did all the talking and the women deferred to him. Thankfully, as the evening progressed, they were drawn into the conversation as a result of some direct questions to them.

For me, the discussion about how to separate out what is Sikhism and what is cultural was the most fascinating.

I enjoyed the evening and I suspect I may return as a guest again, before making a decision about joining up.

An unexpected bonus was that  Sheila, BJ's partner was at the meeting as a guest from her WI. Lovely to see her.