THE WEDDING AND THE FINE PRINT

In my 74 years I have not seen, or even heard of, a more tasteless, egotistical or pretentious wedding than the recent, 24X7 televised extravaganza of the Ambanis. It is not just about its cost, which is estimated to be anything between Rupees 1500 crores to 5000 crores, not including the cost to the government in facilitating a private function as if it was a state event. The ugliness, the perversity and its real portent lie elsewhere.

It lies in the in-your-face manner in which this money was expended, at a time when the average Indian has never been worse off economically, when inequality and unemployment have reached record heights, when 67% of the GST is paid by 50% of its poorest citizens, when the top 1% control 40% of the country’s wealth, when 800 million people have to be provided free/subsidized foodgrains to survive. At a time like this it needs a specially insensitive and supremely contemptuous mindset to distribute invitation cards which cost lakhs of rupees each, to charter 100 private jets to bring in  guests from all over the globe, to take 500 guests on a pre-wedding cruise, to flaunt clothes and necklaces that are worth more than the GDP of many countries, to pay Rs. 80 crores (reportedly) to someone who is practically unknown in India, to dish out gifts that reportedly cost more than rupees one crore each. Marie Antoinette at least offered cake to the citizens when there was no bread, her Indian avatars offer only a soap-box serial (spread over eight months), every event of what should be a private affair playing out in full public glare. It is this which offends the sensibilities, not just the scale of expenditure. (Incidentally, I find something sick and diseased with this obsession for things foreign in our super rich, this compulsion to flaunt white skinned invitees, whether they be pop-stars, ex-Prime Ministers or corporate honchos. It’s as if our billionaires have not fully “arrived” until they can rub shoulders with these imported types, even if the latter have to be paid for condescending to come. Why, for example, a Rihanna or a Justin Beiber when our country has such a rich galaxy of artistes and unparalleled cultural variety  of our own? )

Let us be clear about one thing: this wasn’t just a wedding- it was a powerful political statement. It appears to me that Mr. Ambani was making two statements here through the glitz, the hype and the greenbacks. One, that no one should be in any doubt about his political clout and preeminence. (Incidentally, this vindicates what Rahul Gandhi has been saying all along about who the real powers behind the throne are). And Mr. Ambani’s confidence is certainly justified- barring the South and the Left, every politician of any note- including those from the India Alliance and even the Congress itself – were in obsequious attendance, as were the Shankarcharyas who had boycotted the Ram Mandir inauguration, an indication that the Ambani empire holds sway over both the temporal and the spiritual! And the Prime Minister was there too, making contrite amends for accusing his host of sending tempo loads of black money to the Congress during the elections.

The second statement by Asia’s richest man is that he doesn’t give a tinker’s curse for public opinion or his fellow Indians, that other 99% who have funded his riches, consumed his products and have made him what he is. He had demonstrated as much earlier when he built his 27 storey, Rs. 3000 crore mansion overlooking the slums of these Indians: the mansion is the symbolic finger he is showing them. And why should he bother, anyway?- he controls most of the media, the many anchors and editors had their snouts firmly in the multi-cuisine troughs he had prepared for them, and their studios obligingly read from the script prepared by them.

But beneath this sickening display of naked power and wealth one can detect the parvenu type aspiration of the nouveau riche,  the real colonial mindset of the Indian uber rich: a desperate, almost paranoiac desire to be “accepted” by the glitterati and power brokers of the West, to be one of them, to rub shoulders with them. This is a trait Mr. Ambani shares with his political mentor: the  mentor does it by bear hugs and dropping of first names, our aspiring Midases do it by basking in the company of these invitees (what P. Sainath calls “Nero’s guests”), even if it means your star performer performing with his jockeys showing and a Kim Kardashian doing a “gajni” walk next to Mamata Bannerjee plodding along in hawai chappals! It is THIS colonial mindset which is the bane of a progressing India,  which Mr. Modi should be working to eradicate, rather than on renaming Rajpath or revising the IPC and CrPC or redesigning the army’s uniforms. But a doctor can hardly be expected to cure a patient if he has the same disease himself, can he?

For me, the only ones who come out of this tamasha smelling good are the Gandhis, not one of whom attended the wedding functions, in spite of being invited personally. The absence of Rahul Gandhi particularly is not a sulking refusal or  arrogant behaviour; as Valsan Thampu has explained in a video, it is an affirmative action which demonstrates moral uprightness and political consistency. For this was not just a wedding, it was a political statement, a reiteration of the power and wealth of someone who controls the levers of government, and wanted it to be known not just in India but globally. It had to be answered in kind, which is what Rahul Gandhi has done. He has shown that, notwithstanding the capitulation by his peers in the Opposition camp, he at least has the courage and commitment to practise what he preaches- that this country is being handed over to the oligarchs, that the national wealth being cornered by the rich 10% needs to be equitably shared with the other 90% of the citizens of the country, that the nexus between politics and Big Capital has to be broken for the country to progress and to remain a true democracy. To that extent he has been true to his new persona and has done us proud.

Sadly, no other leader of the opposition alliance has shown a similar fortitude or moral integrity: they have all succumbed to the lure of power and wealth and performed the role of “baratis” (if not “labhartis”) in full public glare. They could have wished Mr. Ambani personally and in private in the best Indian traditions, without associating themselves publicly with this circus. Instead, their cringing behaviour has exposed the fragility and lack of any genuine, value based adhesive to the India Alliance. It further shows the difficulty of formulating any Common Minimum Programme for the Alliance. This is a warning flag for Rahul Gandhi and one hopes he has taken note of this. For all their talk of socialist principles, concern for the common man, tears for the vulnerable sections- all this is just a facade, they are perfectly comfortable with the purveyors of vulgar affluence and riches; they are self serving opportunists whose only goal is to attain power. They will sup with the devil, if necessary, to attain this object. If they are opposing Mr. Modi it is not because they do not approve of his values and principles (or the lack of them), it is because they would rather be sitting on his throne. They cannot be trusted to stay the race and the Congress will, sooner or later, have to find a way reduce its dependence on them.

Many years ago, when I was a probationer on district training in Mandi (unfortunately, Kangana Ranaut was not around then), I used to go to the district Club almost every evening for a drink or a game of bridge. My Deputy Commissioner, the late CD Parsheera, was the President of the club but NEVER visited it. One day I asked him the reason for his staying away. I still remember his words, which have guided me throughout my career: ” Avay, our job demands that we say NO more often than we say YES. And remember this- it’s very difficult to say “no” to a person with whom you have had a drink the previous evening.”

Do you now see the fine print in this wedding?

Avay Shukla

The author retired from the IAS in December 2010. A keen environmentalist and trekker he has published a book on high altitude trekking in the Himachal Himalayas: THE TRAILS LESS TRAVELLED. His second book- SPECTRE OF CHOOR DHAR is a collection of short stories based in Himachal and was published in July 2019. His third book was released in August 2020: POLYTICKS, DEMOCKRAZY AND MUMBO JUMBO is a compilation of satirical and humorous articles on the state of our nation. His fourth book was published on 6th July 2021. Titled INDIA: THE WASTED YEARS , the book is a chronicle of missed opportunities in the last nine years. Shukla’s fifth book – THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER’S DOG AND OTHER COLLEAGUES- was released on 12th September 2023. It portrays the lighter side of life in the IAS and in Himachal. He writes for various publications and websites on the environment, governance and social issues. He divides his time between Delhi and his cottage in a small village above Shimla. He blogs at http://avayshukla.blogspot.in/