To find the Ambani wedding distasteful

Tbh, I don’t find it reassuring that one family should be so wealthy that they need to spend multi millions on one wedding just to get a tiny proportion of their wealth “circulating.” It’s also a very inefficient way of circulating it, as loads of it simply went straight into the bank accounts of other wealthy people taking part in the celebrations. It seems that more people in Mumbai feel they have been inconvenienced by the celebrations than have benefited from them.

Points to ponder

1. they are worth 114 billion in USD all self made. Their grandfathers worked at a gas station in middle east before he built an empire
2. they employ millions of people in india in telecom, oil refineries and media houses. India loves them.
3. how much was spent on Coronation of KC and Jubilee and Harry’s wedding? Do they employ and contribute to the country’s GDP?

I think you’ll find £101,464,309 is considerably closer to half a billion pounds than £1.5million is…

It is I believe a tradition. (neutral comment)
The money will be circulating and that is good. I presume the millions came out of wealth storage like a bank it was then spent on companies that have many employees. Therefore it was paid to middleclass and lower status people as wages.
Probably the only good thing about the day.

The whole wedding is over the top.
the £8,000 wedding invitations, the watches gifted to the groomsmen. The whole affair is so expensive and flaunting of wealth it’s distasteful.
however you saying “he doesn’t not come across as an individual with a lot of intelligence” is a sad judgement. He is highly intelligent and works in the business.
He suffers with serious health concerns hence the weight.

so even further away from the half a billion quoted

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/bazaar-brides/a61594448/ambani-merchant-wedding-guests-performances-cost-explained/#

I wasn't sure whether the 11 billion rupees getting converted to half a billion pounds somehow?

Of course, it’s hard to keep track of actual spending when you celebrate a wedding for several months and plan to keep the party going in more than one country. Not to mention the backhanders involved in disrupting the traffic, redesignating regional airports as international ones, etc.

I’ve just looked, and media reports indicate that so far it is thought the Ambanis have spent around £120million, not £1.5 million. Even using Google to convert 11 billion rupees into pounds comes up with £101,464,309 not £1.5million.

500 million pounds was quoted upthread. Google says a low-income Indian family has around 5000 rupees a month, that converts to around £500 a year.

@Whatabonkersworld
The Indian government have asked for aid not to be sent https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9061844/India-tells-Britain-We-dont-want-your-aid.html

there has been many press articles on this matter and a twitter war of words

Its 11 billion rupees not £, its reported to be £1,5million sterling

It is not half a billion pounds as 1.5 million £ is not half a billion

https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1370/

world wide cities with the most disparity www.worldatlas.com/articles/cities-with-the-most-income-inequality.html

The lack of basic numeracy on this thread probably explains why this insane inequality exists. Average couples spending roughly a year’s salary for a low income family on their wedding, compared to this couple spending HALF A BILLION POUNDS in a country where the poorest earn around one millionth of that in a year. That is not comparable, by a factor of one million.

I think the thought going through many minds is, what on earth is wrong with a global system that facilitates, or even encourages, the accumulation of so much wealth and power in so few hands? And the idea of “trickle down wealth” becomes laughable when you observe how little of it trickles down when one family spends over a billion pounds on one wedding. Most of that wealth is circulating and recirculating amongst the already wealthy guests and performers. Is it anything more than an advert to the super wealthy that India wishes to be a haven for the super wealthy, so feel free to accumulate your billions there? And is this global competition to attract the billionnaires any good for anyone in the long run? Will it result in a better world for all? Where so much wealth and power is held by so few, they can and do ensure they stitch it up so that nobody can challenge it or compete. How is this healthy? Lots of people spending money on a lot of weddings would surely be preferable?

'Overseas aid' is highly linked with trade deals. I'd think of it more as a fee to be able to flog more of our stuff, than some kind of charity payment. I don't know if that makes it better or worse.

Christ, £2.3 billion sent since 2016.

I think they have said that the steroids increased his appetite. In one photo it was clear that he has the same body shape as his dad, although his dad is not quite as large. The way his dad led him out holding his hand looked odd, sure it was a gesture of love but looked strangely infantilising also the way he and other celebs posed so their expensive watches could be seen, the Jonas chap particularly.

Sounds like Paris

Vouchers probably. John Lewis, Argos...

I don't like it either but I find it very hypocritical when people in the UK criticise obscene displays of wealth in so called developing countries because

1. There is plenty of poverty in the UK. There are starving children in the UK. Are you suggesting that any display of wealth in the UK is stopped because of that? If yes, fair play to you. If not, why not?

1. Is a 3 year old sleeping on a cardboard first and foremost an Indian or a human being? Why do you think you shouldn't be associated with them? Aren't children suffering a source of shame for all of us irrespective of whether we share the same passport or skin colour?

1. Of all the large businesses in India, Reliance do quite a bit for charity and a lot of good work through their Reliance Foundation. Compared to their vast fortune it is probably still a drop in the ocean for them but it is something.

1. The real question is why is there so much inequality and what can be done against it? Does it matter what they spend their money on? At least a wedding generates a lot of employment opportunities. No one is any worse off because of this.

In the UK

Another to add to the casual racism list!

Poor Indians begging on TV.

India in the last 2 decades (at least) has done a lot to try to overcome the inequalities of the caste system, but a system that has been observed for 1000s of years is not going to be undone overnight. There is now a caste affectionately called the "milky layer" where government funded education initiatives encourage those that would otherwise not be able to afford it, access to medical degrees, university and professional qualifications etc. That's more than the UK does for those in poverty! Education poverty has increased exponentially over the last 14 years.

Im curious as to what level of wealth do people have tbe right to comment on how someone spends their own money? If I have £500k can I spend my money how I choose? What about £1m?

No one has the right to say how these people spend their money, lavish or not its their money. If you want to help out there is nothing stopping you using your own money, it's just slightly less fun than spending someone else's for them isn't it.

I certainly agree with you on that essential point.

Exactly.
As I said, a wedding that cost £1000, £10 000, millions will always be money that could have been spent on a charitable cause rather than on a wedding.