Big Faaaaat Wedding

 

There is an old song, "Begani shaadi mein Abdullah deewana" in a old RajKapoor film "Jis Desh Main Ganga Bahti Hai", senior citizens would recall, others will have to google. The movie was famous for the anti-dacoity stance and the movement to get them to surrender and rehabilitate them in civil society. But this blog is not about the Chambal dacoits, it is about the most talked about wedding of this century. No points for guessing, obviously the famous Ambani wedding, where Anant and Radhika tied the nuptial knot and the world watched the tamasha in awe. A topic for 'discussion over drinks' in the pubs, air conditioned lounges as also  'chai pe charcha' on the near by tea dhabas, some complaining of the obscene display of wealth and the unbecoming ostentatiousness of the latest edition of the soap opera, while for some others, their jaws dropped so vigorously that even dentists are finding it difficult to set them right at the razzmatazz and the extravaganza which left an indelible impression on the viewers. Some of us, hoi polloi who were not enamoured by this "big faaaat ( yes it was really fat)  Indian wedding were forced to watch it on almost all news channels and also in print media. With 5000 crores being spent on just a wedding, did I  say "just a wedding", well I apologise profusely before I invite opprobrium from all and sundry. No way, this was no ordinary wedding, even the Prince Charles-Lady Diana event couldn't come anywhere close, with the sheer spread of the event itself, shuffling across venues in two continents, guest list comprising the who's who of the Global Political, Entertainment, Sports, Multinational honchos, this one simply eclipsed everything else.

But then we Indians are like that only, the scale has to be grand, here of course they also had the means, but just look around each one of us is guilty of overdoing it. So much so that even our domestic help spends almost 30-40 grand on her grandson's first birthday, with a 10000 bucks gift thrown in. everything is on credit of course. The other help has been in a celebration mode ever since he has a nephew in the family with four major events already held, where the guest list list was close to 500 on each occasion. Now he is no Ambani or even his country cousin, but the celebrations must be grand in keeping with the occasion, else, "what will people say?"

Tongues have a dirty habit of wagging, they can't help it, but who gives a damn, Ambanis definitely don't, you may smirk as much as you want. Ambanis are businessmen, for them everything is just a means to network, so that more business deals may be struck on the sidelines making them richer. Why do you think people like John Kerry, Boris Johnson, Tony Blair,  Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Ivanka Trump and Bob Iger make a beeline for this event. Why should we be complaining, the money which they have spent, a major portion of that has been rerouted into our own economy. The consumption model of economy gleefully accepts any and every such 'band baaja baraat'.  Since I started with a Hindi movie song, let me finish with one as well, this time from Rishi Kapoor's "Khel Khel Mein", ".sab dekh rahe hain, to dekhne do, sab jal bhi rahe hain, to jalne do..khullam khulla pyar karenge.."

As for me, I am mighty disappointed that I was not considered worthy of an invite, after all I too am a celebrity in my own right, at least in my own circle of friends and family. Obviously Ambanis aren't impressed they haven't been shared a link to my blogs so far, me thinks high time someone does the honours, may be next time i too might get lucky! So for people like us, it is just a case of "Sour Grapes!"