Shah Rukh Khan and Pitbull at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s pre-wedding bash. (Photos: Radhika Merchant fanclub, YourPoookieBoo/Instagram)
The second pre-wedding celebration of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant aboard a luxurious European cruise liner aptly called La Vita e Un Viaggio (life is a journey) concluded recently. Guests were treated to a leisurely four-day holiday sailing down the scenic route from Italy to the south of France. In pictures, the massive ship looks more like a floating castle on water, an ideal venue to recreate an atmosphere of splashy gaiety. Events included a masquerade ball at Cannes, a toga party onboard, performances by Katy Perry and Pitbull, and even an antakshari contest hosted by Shaan and Shankar Mahadevan. One has to wonder though, considering the first Jamnagar jamboree was barely three months ago, how much enthusiasm these 800 guests can muster up for the actual wedding, slated for mid-July.
Undoubtedly, weddings can be great fun. Being a guest at the Ambani nuptials (besides the great privilege and cracking entertainment) means entry to an otherworldly realm where you get to rub shoulders with rockstars and tech moguls. Even a Shah Rukh Khan won’t get to hang out with a Bill Gates or a Zuckerberg ordinarily, but this occasion of high-powered holy matrimony is bringing together glittering wealth creators and artistes from all over the world. Notedly, unlike other weddings I’ve attended where special glass rooms are created for VIPs, presumably to prevent hustler guests from accosting them for selfies or favours — there were no hierarchies at Jamnagar, just freewheeling mingling for all. Perhaps, when everyone is someone, wannabe behaviour automatically corrects itself.
However, after the intoxicatingly glamorous (but relentless) 10th or 15th party, post many hours of flowing champagne amid a whirlwind of merriment, even for the most diehard party-goer, the sparkle begins to fade. Even grate. Psychologists describe this state of mind as the hedonic treadmill. Alas, we humans are wired to adapt to new forms of pleasure (or pain) pretty quickly. To begin with, there would be the novelty factor of being part of an exclusive coterie; but even just three days later habituation to new surroundings sets in. It stops delivering the same high. The clearest example of hedonic adaptation is that the first bite of a decadent chocolate cake tastes so much better than the last. Or, that by the end of a vacation one is dreaming longingly of dal-chawal at home. There’s the thought that the Ambanis have left no stone unturned to provide an explosion of excitement by upping opulence to a crazy level, but the fact remains: a long-drawn-out wedding carries diminishing returns.
Going by the established logic of behavioural psychology, the guests would have been enthused participants in Jamnagar and they’re going to be spent wrecks by the time the final event is held in London. The idiom, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing, goes back several centuries to Aesop’s Fables and was quoted by Shakespeare in As You Like It. In our consumption generation, the thinking goes, more money, more parties and more stuff equals more happiness. But it is worth remembering, too large amounts of fertilisers destroy crops and, when on a night out we have that last drink against our better judgement, we inevitably regret it the next morning. The Ambanis’ generosity as hosts, fitting of kings of ancient times, is unsurpassed, but for the guests, the pressure to repeatedly live the dream, seems intense.
Sure, occasionally partaking in someone else’s romantic fantasy is a welcome change; besides, weddings offer endless opportunities to re-examine one’s own beliefs and values about marriage. As you get older, you’re less excited about the free booze and the dance floor, perhaps, even quietly circumspect about happily-ever-after. Anyone who’s been married a while has likely shed their rose tinted glasses, because they know the challenges that lie ahead.
The writer is director, Hutkay Films
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