The advantages of Antilia

All the newspapers are talking about it. (In case you forgot the name, Antilia is Mukesh Ambani's 27 storey house.) All of them are saying that it's a lavish display of wealth, that an electricity bill of Rs. 70 lakh (yes, that's the sum) is crazy, and so much more. All of them feel that it is useless extravagance.

I don't.

In my view, Antilia is the best thing that has happened to the Mumbai economy since the BSE building was built. Here's why:

The neighbours can get free power for all eternity. Consider all the people staying around Antilia. They can tap into the Antilia power line and transfer their electricity bills to Mukesh's. Even considering power-guzzling neighbours, with an average electricity bill of Rs. 2000, and 50 neighbours, that's still only a lakh. For Antilia, what's the difference between 70 lakh and 71 lakh?

The concept of the 'tip' will now be extended to electricity boards. Since Mukesh paid his bill on time, the kind electricity board gave him a rebate of Rs. 47,000. Now, I don't know whether he took the rebate, but he probably waved a generous hand and let the board take the money. This must be their first tip ever - they will never look back. First, they will change the format of the electricity bill to look just like a restaurant bill - with place for a 10% tip. Second, every celebrity in Mumbai will be asked to tip. Soon, it'll be you and me, the common people. I don't know if this is a good thing for Mumbai, but it's certainly a good thing for the electricity boards.

Houses in Mumbai will become larger. Everyone knows that the real estate prices in Mumbai are insanely high. But Antilia could be the beginning of a revolution. One family is living in a 27 floor house. One family. There are many families in Mumbai who live in 27 square metre houses. This must change. The pressure on real estate agents will mount, and land prices will fall. All because one man dared to spend $ 2 billion on a house.

Antilia will solve the unemployment problem in Mumbai. A 27 storey house will need a LOT of people to look after it. First, I'm sure there must be 5-6 servants to clean each room. Next, the helipads - they'll need maintenance. Put down another 20 highly skilled helicopter officials (if such a job exists). These are just the confirmed roles. There are speculations of a room where you can create artificial weather. This will probably have scientists, working staff, technicians and maybe even a weather god or two - maybe these are the people making it rain in Mumbai in November. 

The result will be that Antilia can employ a significant proportion of the unemployed people in Mumbai in one role or the other. Isn't that a good thing?

It's good for newspapers and comedy writers. It's difficult to fill up 40 pages of newspaper. It's hard for us to come up with topics to write on. Then one day, Mukesh Ambani decides that his new house is going to break all electricity bill records, and we rejoice. No longer do we have a content problem. That's got to be a good thing?