To find the Ambani wedding distasteful

[Soonenough]

I know everyone can do what they like , it's their money . But such an extravagant event in a place where a large proportion of the population live in slum conditions is rather unsettling.? Plus the bride is stunning but the groom unfortunately does not come across as an individual with a lot

of intelligence . Before I get flamed , he and his family are encouraging the public to view them and I guess are expecting admiration.

A never ending social event sounds hideous to me.

I disagree
I think that will have been organised by someone

Based on my experience of attending lavish Indian parties.

Yep, this.

Nothing to do with their culture. Spending £500 million, which is the estimated cost, is obscene.

the UK doesn't need to send any aid actually. India has plenty of wealth already it's just very unequally distributed.

It's not just the west thinking it's obscene, it's the same in much of India, my Indian colleagues and the drivers and shopkeepers etc I chatted to last month in Maharashtra were also totally appalled by the ostentation. My taxi driver in Mumbai drove me past their mansion so he could rant about how rubbish they were and how great more reserved rich people like Ratan Tata are!

I'm sure they're lovely people and very in love, but surely your average 7 day huge Indian wedding would show that just as well as a multi-month extravaganza.

Certainly tasteless. Also, such disparity of wealth is obscene. Shows what sort of political convictions T. Blair had when he is prepared to show up at such a shindig.

Well he has a lot of children to provide for so no wonder he is hard up; we don't even know for sure how many.

What an utterly useless statement.

The kindest spin to put on it is that the wedding will bring employment to many people however tacky it looks to outsiders.

The principle remains

What's useless about this statement? I'm baffled on behalf of the person who posted it

I suppose 500 million is now in the hands of business that supplied the wedding rather than just gaining interest. I did read they paid for the weddings of if I think 100 couples and gave them a years supply of groceries or something like that. It did look over the top.

The silver lining is that a lot of money is being SPENT rather than hoarded in some bank accounts or trapped in assets somewhere - that's a lot of people being paid for services and products, a big influx of money being put into the economy in general.

I think it's all a bit grim - but all for the wealthy spending their money over hoarding it.

Utterly ridiculous to compare this six month fiasco to the wedding of Prince William, which lasted one day like any normal wedding.

It doesn't surprise me at all, when we were touring India the attitude of our guide to the driver was dreadful, he, the guide, was of a much higher caste than the driver apparently, he didn't know the driver's name even though they always worked together. I would never donate to Indian charities, no-one abused the poor Indians as much as the rich indians.

The usual attempt the close down criticism, the r word.

Blair would turn up for the opening of an envelope if It were made worth his while!

Should I donate to Oxfam and Western evangelical charities instead @JudgeJ? Your judgements are very sweeping.

This is genius. Truly sums Bojo up.

I do think it's ridiculous
but...

apparently the groom has been ill hence the weight gain... he used to be slim. thehr bride and groom have been together since before he was unwell and she was stuck with him. she is also stupidly wealthy so hardly in it for the money.

also they did a lot of charitable things as part of the wedding celebrations eg. feeds thousands of impoverished individuals. also paying for weddings for 50 impoverished couples. that doesn't sound important, but in India helping a couple get married is a massive help for a myriad of reasons.

still think all this is ridiculously unnecessary

I also have a feeling that the size of the wedding is more the idea of the parents as is usually the case in these situations.

Well to be a little more precise they have spent plenty of our money on these. It makes me laugh when one of them preaches about wanting to end homelessness: well if you are serious about that you could start by paying inheritance tax like the rest of us, perhaps consider giving up one of your lavish homes? Stop robbing the taxpayers and stop being secretive about your wealth.

I just don't think we as a nation are in a position to feel superior to other nations; just because the poverty is less blatant we know it exists and the inequality is here, and we tolerate it. And btw some of the worst poverty and abuses have just been exported overseas by us; eg every time we buy fast fashion (knowing how it has been produced) like it or not we contribute to it.

Yes, it is a bit ott. But for them the percentage spent is probably no different than for middle class couples in the UK spending £20k.

Also to be fair to them, they do a lot of charitable work through Reliance foundation, partner with Bill Gates etc. These Uber wealthy families often do a lot of philanthropic work, more than the government probably! They do a lot for girls and women in particular which is good thing in India.

I think the "they paid guests" has been misinterpreted. They certainly paid the entertainment, I can't believe they paid other high profile guests. Maybe I'm naive.

It's tacky as anything. But rich people have wasted money on showing off since the dawn of time. If it's not weddings it's submarines or mansions. At least this money is back in circulation rather than sitting in the bank.
Not sure why some people think it's worse because they are Indian - it's 2024, the megarich all over the world are well clued up on global inequality. Why hold these particular rich people to higher standards.