Class or Crass – A Vulgar Display of Power
The internet exploded in bright bling thanks to the Ambani wedding. On the surface, it appeared to be a rich, upper-class wedding in true Indian fashion – rich clothing, opulent jewellery and excess of everything.
Yet the guest lists and many functions made it very obvious that it was a good propaganda vehicle of India – a pro Indian celebration, possibly in support of Modi who was in attendance as well.
While the crème de la crème of Hollywood and Bollywood adorned these functions, what really surprised me was the oozing admiration and dripping envy for those chunks of rock aka jewellery worn by the family members.
Don’t get me wrong – I love jewellery. It is one of my vices and I believe in investing in good, beautiful and artfully designed jewellery. I have seen some of the best pieces in Sri Lanka and abroad and I know how well South Asians craft their trinkets.
In this light, to see the abysmally grotesque and humongous emeralds and diamonds being called gorgeous and beautiful made me ask, what the actual hell is wrong with people? Those pieces were too big, too mismatched with half the clothes they wore – salmon pink and peach with green emeralds and white diamonds?? Cringe. And there was no way to excuse the vulgar display of wealth that that wedding exhibited in terms of the jewellery. Nita Ambani is a beautiful woman and she carries herself very well. However, even she at times, looked like she had a millstone of chunky diamonds and emeralds around her neck.
Yes, people are free to wear whatever the hell they want – 75 carats per ear if required. But to drool and fawn over bad taste, purely because it is trending and from a very prominent family makes it obvious that money still talks and bullshit walks, in this instance, with a millstone of rocks as well.
