Even if you have been living under a rock, you couldn’t have escaped the news about Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding. India’s uber-rich, the Ambanis, made sure of it. Visuals were everywhere – every celebrity attending the event, celebrities who performed at the event, paparazzi, and news channels shared visuals from the grand affair. If that wasn’t enough, the Ambanis invited a number of social media influencers with decent following to attend the wedding festivities. I mean, they got Justin Beiber, Kim Kardashian and John Cena posting about the wedding.
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Anybody with an iota of intelligence would realize that this wasn’t just a wedding. This was a chance for the Ambanis to put themselves on the global map, and they took full advantage of it. They wanted the publicity, they wanted the entire world to notice them and talk about the event. They achieved the task at hand – to make Anant and Radhika’s wedding a global phenomenon.
One unnamed executive at Reliance called the event a “powerful symbol of India’s growing stature on the global stage”. The executive shared a note with the media which read, “The presence of esteemed individuals highlights India’s economic, political, intellectual, and scientific prowess,” reported Al Jazeera.
And that’s true. The wedding festivities charmed the world with their Indian-ness, as even international A-listers donned traditional Indian clothing and participated in the glory of Indian rituals.
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One might argue that the Ambanis have the right to spend their money as they wish and that their spending can stimulate the economy through job creation and business for various sectors.
And that is a valid point.
The entire affair, which lasted for weeks, required a significant workforce and gave solid, although temporary, earning opportunities to various professionals – from event planners to caterers to decorators. Local vendors benefited from the wedding festivities profoundly. After all, money that’s spent on weddings circulates through the economy. Such events also have cultural significance as they promote Indian traditions, crafts, and hospitality on a global stage.
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However, an overwhelming number of people seem to think of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding festivities as a vulgar display of wealth, especially in the current economic climate.
It highlights our country’s gross economic disparities, where on one hand there is the sparkling Antilia, the home of the Ambanis, and on the other hand there is the Dharavi slum. We are a country where many people struggle to make ends meet. As a result, the extravagant wedding is being seen as insensitive, wasteful and tone-deaf.
We are also a country where families take large loans from banks to fund the weddings of their family members. The Ambani wedding, with the kind of publicity it got, perpetuates a culture of excessive spending and materialism. It sets unrealistic expectations for other families, fueling a cycle of debt and financial strain for those trying to replicate such grandeur.
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As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. There is an expectation on the Ambanis to prioritize philanthropy and social initiatives over personal indulgence. It is morally questionable to spend such an obscene amount of money and make a public show of it when 3.44 crore Indians are living in extreme poverty, according to a report by The Hindu.
Which is why a lot of anger has been directed against the Ambanis by the common folk. Posts denouncing the Ambanis’ “vulgar display of wealth” are everywhere on social media. Here’s a look at some of them:
The crazy number of people coming on LinkedIn, justifying the vulgar display of wealth and ostentatiousness, and saying Ambanis spent less than 1% of their net-worth, have forgotten that there we live in a world who is fighting wars, poverty, climate change
— Ishan Vaish (@thatishan) July 16, 2024
I want to wholeheartedly thank the Ambanis for making my hatred of big weddings attain new heights.
Whatever freak show they are staging is miles and miles away from celebration of love but is a nauseating display of wealth.
— Rohini Murugan (she/her/அவள்) (@paarivendhi) July 12, 2024
can’t believe ive seen ppl defending the ambanis like how are you not infuriated by this filthy display of wealth in a country like ours and if you’re not how are you blatantly defending it if ppl feel infuriated and nauseated by it
— y 🍉 (@yamentos) July 14, 2024
The lessons from Ambani wedding and the obscene display of wealth is that-
– India really needs to tax the rich
– Money can’t buy class
– Some rich people are so socially poor that they need to ‘buy’ their guests.(Many global celebrities have been paid for wedding appearance)
— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) July 14, 2024
where monthly income of 70% of households are below ₹10000, Ambani wedding ₹2673 crores is obscene.
This is vulgar display of wealth.
And the govt makes special airport to traffic diversion to long duration*
slap by pm modi on poor and the law of land#AmbaniWedding pic.twitter.com/m8HibvVYng
— Rajan V (@RajanV93037423) July 11, 2024
Few will say this but I will. What’s termed as the “greatest wedding of the century” is a vulgar display of power and wealth in a country where millions have barely enough to eat. #AmbaniWedding n/1
— Kalpana Sharma (@kalpana1947) July 13, 2024
Ambani is showing that this level of wealth can never ever be a good thing for the world. The vulgarity of wealth on display, mocking billions through the extravagance and rubbing it in the face of have-nots is possible only in a deeply unjust, oppressive and exploitative
— Hurmat Ali Shah (@iconcoclastary) July 16, 2024
The Ambani wedding has devolved into a tacky circus of wealth and excess.
It’s all about flaunting cash, not celebrating love or tradition.
This isn’t impressive, it’s embarrassing. #AmbaniWedding #CringeFest #OverTheTop pic.twitter.com/DyU0wVIBmn
— Chanakya Ratnam (@ratnam_chanakya) July 12, 2024
i’m never an eat the rich girlie but this ambani wedding is so distasteful . 8000$ per invitation, when your country has one of the sharpest rich poor divides , it’s the most disgusting display of wealth
— rai$ha ❄️ (@swiftlywish4) July 13, 2024
Lmao y’all look at the replies. The inferiority complex from Indian nationalists is so pathetic. Billionaires like Ambani have stolen the wealth of your nation and use that stolen wealth to throw extravagant parties for western celebrities while the people of your nation starve. https://t.co/w2xcyZII3I
— Sunny (@sunveervirk) July 14, 2024
The Ambani pre nuptial extravaganza is a nauseatingly vulgar display of wealth & power. That our Celebs are happily willing to participate while demeaning themselves is embarrassing & sickening. That our mainstream media goes gaga over it shows the total bankruptcy of the media.
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) March 4, 2024
These never-ending Ambani weddings are such gross affairs. Obnoxious displays of opulence built on the backs of undervalued labour, in a country where the wealth gap keeps widening—not to mention the most recent string of them, where workers and everyone else are inconvenienced.
— Siddhant Adlakha (@SiddhantAdlakha) July 13, 2024
I understand that there is considerable apprehension and ignorance surrounding the recent actions of the Ambani family. This ostentatious display of wealth is entirely unnecessary. The Ambanis’ affluence is well-known and does not require further validation through such gaudy… pic.twitter.com/UmNpQQ5dN0
— Hitender Vigamal (@HitenderV) July 14, 2024
The Ambanis have made no effort to conceal the astounding economic disparity in our country. In fact, they were happy to flaunt it.