I always feel that the rich deserves to live their life however or whatever ways they choose to. It is their prerogative and that’s the reward for their industry, business acumen and entrepreneurial streak.
Luck will have a pivotal role to play in their accumulation of wealth, including the structural graces offered by the society in terms of proper infrastructure, available (sufficiently developed) timely technology and rule-based, politically constituted security, but it still takes a brave soul to venture out and make a killing and preserve it for posterity.
Nobody sees the sweat filled nights of the entrepreneurs worrying over a deal that would either make or break them. All they see is the garland, celebration and awards and not the mental anguish and anxieties hidden from public view.
But that said, the raw reality is that the tussle and biting envy of the poor against the rich will go on and on and it will never cease. That’s another fact that will never find rest in this wealth/income disparity in the modern economy.
Yet, if we keep a level head to the untethered rage within, we have to accept that most times, the rich cannot be blamed just because they are rich. Or just because they live in private mansions, own private jets or have enough for generations to come.
For every dollar the poor earned, the rich is rich and perpetually so because they somehow finds ways and means to turn that dollar into thousands or even million, and most times, it comes in like a financial tsunamis whether they can help it or not.
For isn’t it said that to turn $100 to $1 million is darn hard work, but to turn $10 million to $100 million is inevitable?
I think at this point of the post it is a good time to bring in the wedding of the century in India.
Look at who is getting married today. It is in the papers. It is more than just a marital union here. It is the union of the world where the who’s who of the political, economic and celebrity world will converge at Antilia, “the 27-storey residence of India’s richest man,” to celebrate the wedding of the first of his three children, Ms Isha Ambani.
But first, how rich is Mr Mukesh Ambani? Well the chairman of Reliance Industries is worth more than $40 billion, overtaking Alibaba’s founder Jack as Asia’s wealthiest man.
In his sprawling mansion, Antilia, it has a staff of 600 people, six floors of parking and “it can withstand an earthquake of magnitude eight.” That says a lot about building your faith in wealth in sure and firm foundation.
That’s not all.
His daughter, 27, is going to marry Anand Piramal, 33. And the groom’s father is none other than billionaire industrialist Ajay Piramal.
So, it is not just a tying of a marital union, it is also a tying of unimaginable wealth all coming together under one golden sun roof.
It is said that the two families have known each other for 40 years, and that’s a timeless friendship of immeasurable worth.
And here is the stats on the cost of the wedding. It is estimated at US$100 million or S$137 million.
The papers wrote, “To put that into perspective, Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding 37 years ago reportedly cost US$110 million in today’s dollars.”
FYI, the bride had just recently completed her MBA from Stanford University and the groom is a graduate of Harvard Business School.
And for the wedding of the century, the invite includes but not limited to Beyoncé, Hillary Clinton, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and so on. To accommodate the world’s Illuminaries, the Ambanis have taken over “at least five five-star hotels nearby” and reportedly, “a war room has been set up in Mumbai to manage logistics.”
Mind you, the whole city is involved here as the “main ceremony will be held at the Antilia and post-wedding events will be held in the city.”
Last, but not least, “the newly-weds are reportedly moving into a US$64-million, diamond-themed mansion at the Gulita building in Mumbai,” according to one source.
So, lesson? Seriously? Is there really a lesson here?
Mm...maybe here’s a wry note. I guess when the gods in Olympus fight amongst themselves over the pettiest of squabbles, the commoners below just pray feverishly that they are not singled out as collateral casualty in their tempestuous crossfire.
The farmers will hope that their sight will not be on their crops. The steel workers will be praying that they, in their irascibility, will pass by their economic livelihood without a touch of tragedy. And the pauper on the street who lives from day to day can only wish that they will not withhold the crumbs from their celebrated banquets from falling onto the floor.
Save for immortality, there is nothing that the combined wealth, power and status of the Ambani and the Piramal cannot buy. I guess if they should discover the elixir of eternal youth, they will rightfully be enthroned in Olympus and worshipped to the end of days.
Now to be fair to them, the super rich have their share of philanthropy. Look at the billions that Zuckerberg have allegedly given away. How about Buffet’s promise to leave little for his children and all to charity? And the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to make the world a better place?
Even the Ambani-Piramal’s wedding has a section where “as a gratitude to the city of Udaipur, the Ambanis donated enough food to feed 5,100 people three meals a day for four days.” Well, that ought to soothe the mind of the farmer, steel worker and pauper on the street to some extent.
Nevertheless, I trust that the Ambanis and the Piramals of the world have their charity arm tied to their growing body of wealth, and they are giving back to society in ways that many have come to greatly appreciate and are deeply beholden to.
And although it would sound rather heretic to say this as a Christian, and I say (or write) it unapologetically, but if you seriously think about it, your prayers to them for financial relief and a good promotion (except for everlasting life after you are dead) at most times would be - in the name of practicality - more effective than your supplications to God.
But then, you as a fervent believer can always attribute the gifts as one whereby God moves man’s heart to give, instead of an act done by man out of the abundance of his unspendable wealth in his lifetime. Whatever floats your boat in teleological waters I guess.
But after all that wry note, let me end by saying that sometimes I write about positive stuff ending on a positive note. At times, I write about negative stuff ending on a less than positive note.
But this morning, in the face of ostentatious wealth beyond anyone’s imagination, I can’t really put my finger on whether I have written anything positive or negative, or should I end on a positive or less than positive note.
Nevertheless, if I should end here, it should be on a bewildered note, methinks.
Honestly, I can’t put a finger on the conclusion of this post. All I can say is that when Jesus said that the poor we will always have with us, I think the more pertinent aspect of that in this context is this, the rich we will always have with us.
Alas, they will always have their mansions, private jets, extravagant celebrated events, exclusivity, gated community, wealth beyond measure and a life heavily padded and endowed with the best thing that money can buy.
For the rest of the world moving on making ends meet as they watch from the spectator‘s stand how making ends meet is translated by the rich to mean how or whether one should splurge on the next big thing to create the next big thing, I guess what matters most in this lifetime is to take consolation and render the sincerest of efforts to pursue after the things that money can’t buy.
For you can have the grandest wedding to celebrate the wealthiest union, but enduring love cannot be bought. Overcoming love makes the deeply-felt difference, even in the poorest or richest of state, and however trite that sounds.
And, for you can spend not a day worrying about how to pay for your children’s education or whether you can retire with enough to cover your medical and daily expenses, but contentment and joy and resilience in adversity are virtues that cannot be put on the tab or credit.
Your character, your self-worth, your legacy as a father, spouse and son is not dependent on how rich you are, but how deep your relationships are - and that is again beyond the economic metric (trite or otherwise).
So, there are many things money can buy, but a few of them that money cannot. And most times, these few things count more than those many things.
The difference is a life that is meaningful, resilient, contented and joyful, whether you are rich or poor, whether your daughter’s wedding costs millions or whether the ang pows will break even at final count. And for the rest of us, that in itself can be more than a consolation when our love, hope and faith endure through the test of time, trials and hardship.
Truly, it may just be the only thing that matters when we heave our last breath. Cheerz.
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