Once its complete, Mukesh will live in penthouse. Rest of the “house” will become a hotel/high-end apartment complex/convention center/designer luxury mall etc. With the rents/leases, Mukesh will then build another “house” in Delhi, another in Ahmedabad etc. etc. This “house” will even have space for seminar centers like Brilliant, Agarwal etc. Then our pre-IIT students will go to Agarwal training from Mukesh house, so Mukesh is contributing to education also.

Google search typing *Jawahar’s interview with Swami Dayananda* and you can access the facts eclipsed by Indian govt and media.

Click on the following link and read it all before you come up with such hastily neat assumptions.

I think most of us agree that option-a has failed worldwide. so, we are left with option-b as a decent economic system to follow. But, the golden mean to me, is option-b combined with a sense of “smart” consumption by individuals.

One can spend a billion dollars (or whatever the amount) on getting highly luxurious item. Or, if one is service oriented, one can inject that money into the society for a targeted benefit. Sure, there are arguments on both sides. Building a billion dollar home will generate employment .. Spending billion dollars on a targeted education program has its long term benefits. It seems to me, the latter choice has more long term benefits to society.

In economics jargon, the choice is whether you spend money for “consumption” or to build up capital / infrastructure. An education program builds up human capital and is beneficial to society in long term.

This is not just about Ambani’s choice. These choices are in everyones life. Say, you chose to drive 200 miles to some place in your gas guzzler, instead of taking a train. A significant part of that money, has gone into Saudi coffers, instead of (pick a social program to support from your savings). Yes, both sides have some advantages. But the choice is, immediate consumption (vs) long term benefit for society.

Anyway, so, while is completely defend private property rights, what you choose to do with that “right” could have lot of impact long term. As they say, “vote with your wallet”.

I think the Ambanis have done their bit to the society by paying their taxes. Their taxes (approx. 1/3rd of their wealth) is paid to the government, so that it can help the society. If someone feel that the Ambanis have ill-gotten wealth, let him/her sue them for tax-evasion or illegal practices and put the wealth where it rightly belongs!

What the Ambanis decide to do with the rest of their hard-earned money (whether display it ostentatiously in front of teeming millions of poor Indians or decide to donate it to charity) is their own free will.

As Atanu rightly pointed out, for a poor homeless hungry citizen, a $2 billion home is as unaffordable as a $1 million home (I am willing to bet that homes worth Rs.4 crores are numerous, atleast in Mumbai). I may find it vulgar, but I will defend to death, the Ambanis right to their vulgarity!

-Mayuresh Gaikwad

I guess its value could be 800 crores.

But let me add one point that I missed earlier. While I am disgusted by the ostentatious display of wealth by the rich, what really makes me sick is the unrelieved squalor in which millions have to live. And when one realizes that the misery is largely the result of absolutely stupid economic policies and therefore largely avoidable, it makes the situation much harder to bear.

To elaborate what you wrote further, some of the outrage is justified because of the ‘in your face’ nature of the project especially since its in a city like Bombay where a significant percentage of the population lives in slums. In a starving village, it is akin to laying out a full-course meal for oneself in front of everyone.

We are all different in our inclinations and talents. Some are smarter than others, some wiser, some more selfish, some more generous.

I may feel that Mukesh should have a more modest home. But on a matter of principle — that of private property — I think he has the right to do what he feels with his money. I may feel moral outrage at his waste (if that is what it is) but I will defend his right to waste because I wish to live in a free society. In a free society, nobody should tell anybody what he or she must do with private property.

I agree to many of the points in the blog and comments. But I think we are all being very simplistic here. We have to understand that any of the wealth that Mukesh Ambani or for that matter even me is not completely the function of our own intentions, acts, intelligence or whatever. We have gained tremendously from the society surrounding us, our govt, our system, our culture, our parents(who in turn have benefited from the same outside sources). So all our achievements are not isolated. This is something that prompts me to share atleast part of my wealth to those who have not been fortunate enough to access my opportunities and good luck. I am sure Mukesh Ambani and family deserves every bit of that $2bn home that he is building, but lets just not say that its “his” wealth and he has the moral right to spend the way he is want. The rules of the gane are made by mortal creatures, and they can be wrong. So following rules of the game when you dont want to share your wealth could be .. and I am saying again .. could be a relfection of the selfishness of the person’s nature.

It is all a question of individual choices one makes. Wilful abstinence very often comes as a result of profound thought, deep sorrow etc. Had the same house been owned by a muslim or a converted christian in India I wonder how many would have turned jealous in dhimmi India.

If by subtle coercion in tandem with sedulous engendering of guilt feelings, one is forced to *donate* for the upkeep of inimical parasites around, it would inevitably lead to stifling of creativity and free spirit .

Also, even though he might be worth 43 billion dollars, I suppose most of it is in reliance stock. How much of it is infact in that form? Unless he sold some of his shares, I suppose we must also compare the 2 billion dollars he spent against his non-stock wealth.

Such inspiration can only be very good for our society. Of course , all the hypocrites are not going to be inspired anytime soon.