Antilla

Today there are reports that Mukesh Ambani is ready to move into his new home, the 27-storey Antilla. Dubbed as the world's most expensive home built at a cost of anywhere between Rs.200 crore to Rs.9000 crore (depending on who you believe),  Antilla is a 50,000 sq. feet home with 600 servants and a parking space of 6 floors for 160 cars. Some stunning photographs of Antilla can be found here. While some have gasped in awe, others have criticized this vulgar show of wealth in a country where millions of people don't have enough food to eat two meals a day. On which side are you on? 

I, for one, don't mind it at all. Mukesh Ambani's contributions to the country are so extraordinary that he deserves every bit of it. In our country, a gas cylinder was a luxury just a few years ago, now we are self sufficient in gas and exporting petroleum products to other countries. Mukesh turned his father's dream of making 'a phone call as cheap as a post card' into reality. Reliance has more than 30 lakh shareholders (the most for any company in the world), who have become richer because of his extraordinary vision and project execution skills. Writing about Mukesh and his achievements is not the subject of this write-up, it is a separate topic altogether. All I want to say is that if he deserves it, if he has earned it, why can't he spend it the way he wants?

One question however interests me - now that the elder brother is moving out of Sea Wind, where will Kokilaben stay? Which of the two brothers will get to say "Mere paas Maa hai?" Lets wait and see...