“Rich lives” shown on TV shows such as Super Swank are likely to leave you feeling underprivileged.
A day before I watched Super Swank, I was thrilled to receive my bank account status, including my recurring account which, I must add, has been instrumental in letting me know that I’ve significantly upgraded my lifestyle. I can now afford dinner at a five-star hotel once — okay, twice — in 365 days, a quick trip to the shopping mall, and even an overseas trip without feeling too guilty.
But songwriter Denise Rich, going by Super Swank, would perhaps instruct her private chef on her super luxury yacht to create a one-day menu worth my entire salary and finally wash her hands in her ornamental stone inlay sink. Yes, the monthly salary of this humble journalist will be worth a casual meal that Rich (what an apt surname) will forget in a jiffy.
Here’s why I blame Super Swank, a show on “rich living” presented on Discovery Travel and Living, every Thursday at 9 pm. The programme lovingly teased me with how the rich and famous live and take ultra cool vacations in their very own luxury liners that naturally don’t cost less than millions of dollars.
On a serious note, Super Swank worked because it gave us a rare glimpse into exclusivity. It also took us on a tour with two multimillionaire businessmen who wanted to buy a yacht. Dressed in casual shorts, tees and a baseball cap, the two business partners were on a “shopping spree”. They looked at three yachts, one of which was to be custom-made because the original, no matter what price one offered, wasn’t on sale. Oh, another interesting statistic: Even as you read this column, close to 800 super luxury yachts are being constructed all over the world. As far as the price goes, it’s a staggering $3.3 million, at the very least.
Another favourite part of the show was interiors designer Patrick Knowles speaking about Mine Games, a yacht that cost $40 million to create from scratch. The washroom done in cut crystal with a handmade mural wall, monogram sinks, gold encrusted door knobs and traditional textile upholstery procured from all over the world for the living, dining and bedroom areas, were just some of the highlights of this yacht. And that’s what our two baseball-cap-wearing multimillionaires chose. The price tag didn’t matter and the wait for another 16-18 months was just fine.
I’m waiting to grab future episodes of Super Swank which will showcase luxurious hotel suites, offer a scrumptious bite into a burger that costs Rs 38,850 and help us fit into diamond encrusted jeans.
As a kid, I browsed Argos catalogues that my aunt got back to India from London. Gazing at the products (and they were hardly premium as one understands today), I used to tell my mum, “I’ll get all of this when I grow up. Because when I grow up, I’ll work, because when I work, I’ll earn money.”
I’ve counted my money till the last penny and realised that Denise Rich’s annual floral arrangement on her yacht costs a little more than my own annual salary. But then we also live in times where buying a drink with your own money in a pub is liable to get you thrashed by the moral police. Sigh! Just who thought money could buy us everything?
