My Middle Class Take On The Grandeur Of Ambanis

The sappy and happy Jamnagar pre-wedding celebration has been the latest grist for the gossip mill. It was like opulence raised to the power of infinity. The pre-wedding celebration merits fresh attention. Impervious to all manner of hype and glamour Ambanis did it like no one else could. Orchestrating spectacle of events planned meticulously and everything looked breathtaking, incomprehensible and overwhelming. The frivolous display of wealth had common people flabbergasted in shock and awe. We witnessed the deep unwavering love for emeralds, couture, dance and culture. Inadvertently, the focus was also on Bhartiya Sanskriti, sabhyata and sanskar. Everything ached for the spotlight and it felt like being catapulted to a completely different galaxy.

There is no way you can escape the billionaire bandwagon

For those of you inhabiting a parallel universe, here are the bare bones. The top names from across the world descended upon the expansive Ambani estate and Jamnagar which is apparently a tiny airport got an international status for 10 days during the pre-wedding celebration. Ambani Parivar left Sooraj Barjatya and Dharma productions way behind in conceptualising a pre-wedding ceremony and the concept of Adarsh Parivar. The energy they created was combustible. There is no way you can escape the billionaire bandwagon.

Kudos to the coverage on social media or any media broadcasting platform that everyone knows every detail about the wedding. From Arjit Singh performing the chartbuster, to Rihanna charging 74 crores and still pronouncing Radhika’s name incorrectly. I think they should deduct 10 crores for wrong pronunciation. From twenty-one chefs preparing 75 types of dishes for breakfast, more than 225 types of dishes for lunch, and 85 types of items for the midnight meal to Nita Ambani’s exquisite Kanchipuram handloom saree with the GDP of some countries in her neck. From Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla openly appreciating Anant’s 14 crore watch to Isha Ambani’s 90 crore outfit. I feel awfully poor even while quoting the amount. My middle-class instincts are bursting at the seams.

Among the event highlights, there are a few emotional welcome speeches of family members, a drone show, star performances and an emerald necklace worth hundreds of crores, cringe-worthy ‘who is the Don’ kind of reels, a tour to the luxe pet sanctuary and buttermilk not alcohol being served to the guess. 

Ambani’s are exemplary in the way they symbolise the power of a woman

If this has not got you down to earth with a crushing thud, what else would? It’s okay to feel discombobulated with this apparent autonomy of glam and glitter. Opinions are divided on the obscene display of wealth. Some say that the grand display of prosperity is crucial for India’s global image and Ambani’s wedding has put a new spin on India's business. The domestic economy gained momentum when all that money locked up got spent. Others felt that it was totally preposterous and unnecessary. It could have been a personalized affair celebrated in a simple fashion. No celebrity circus. All the mayhem can be cut short.

I’m not getting into the right and wrong of it but as the onlooker with an objective view, some observations drew my attention.

Ambanis are exemplary in the way they symbolise the power of a woman. From the wife, daughter and daughter-in-law, they know how to keep them well. Though the men created the empire, how beautifully the women of the family made an undeniable place for themselves. Every time you see Nita Ambani, her face glows with incandescence of happiness. We witnessed the emotional outburst of Mukesh Ambani in Anant Ambani’s speech where he mentions how his parents have been a rock-solid support system. Mostly everything circles around the boys of the family, but here the married daughter gets equal weightage and importance which I feel is remarkable. In the same regard and context, I love the love Mr and Mrs Ambani share unabashedly and unapologetically as a couple.

In a lighter vein, I liked how Bollywood got stacked together in the bus like they were some extras who had come to perform at the wedding and how it punctured their sense of self-importance. Ambani made the international wealthy people look like paupers in front of their magnificence. Our middle-class upbringing is concerned about Nita Ambani’s earlobes and neck considering the weight she was carrying. For us worrying comes with the territory of marriage and here you don’t see anyone stressed out or hyperventilating. We don’t get the drift. We also don’t understand how the fundamentals of ‘Nazar’ are not applicable to them. Why do we always suffer?

Now that we have to resume normal programming after watching the first episode of the ostentatious pre-wedding. Let me cushion the blow by saying, they have not even spent one per cent of their wealth and the Ambani heir isn’t even married yet. The marriage is yet to happen. 

The quick-witted little monster in me wants the universe to play a reverse UNO Card and give us a chance to live life Ambani size. Whoever said money can’t buy happiness ought to be kidding. 

Authored by Radhika Dhingra

Views expressed are the author's own