The Ideal Flaunting
May 10th 2010 06:31
By Maimoona Rahman
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t exactly own a limited edition pen from Montblanc; after all I’m not Marie Antoinette incarnate. Neither am I Carlos Slim Helu’s heiress. Besides, why would somebody waste a fortune on a pen made of expensive metals and studded with stones? You can’t even wear it on your ears or around your neck like a devotee of Lady Gaga. And you do get pens from Montblanc in Qatar, custom-made for the Qatari millionaires.
A fortune of blessings squandered on a pen – an object in gross disuse today – symbolises the rich buyer’s lack of foresight and infinite stupidity. No wonder they say that a fool and their money are soon parted. Besides, when investment is an option, what good is pointless squandering on something that is hardly used?
Ladies and Gentlemen of wealth, we are having an economic recession, in case you were too self-absorbed to know that. I agree that if you have wealth then you must, by default, have comforts as well, but a pen hardly categorises as material comfort. Buy a nice mansion with mirrored halls like Versailles (when you go bankrupt, you can auction it), or jewellery, or a little village off the coast. You could, better still, donate to the countless people without medical insurance, million starving children in godforsaken countries, institutions for the disabled. Just don’t buy a pen with glistening stones and a platinum nib when the rest of the world is clamouring for sunlight. Be practical and buy something of practical use, like a mansion with mirrored walls. Last night, while I stayed up reading Living, I came across an article on the remarkable beauty mirrors add to interior architecture. The pictures were amazing, and ever since, I have been day dreaming of rooms where beams of light dance through multiple reflections. Besides, living in a beautiful house is a luxury that comes handy unlike a pen.
Fact is, as my mother likes to believe, rich people are so inundated with wealth, they don’t have a clue on what to do with their booming fortunes, while students struggle to pay for college and little Indian children delight over a single pair of flip-flops for footwear. A nice palatial home, three brand new, off-the-showroom cars, exquisite jewellery, crystal ware, and mirrored halls are quite a lot of luxury. So why not let the remaining excesses flow into welfare of the less fortunate? Because at the end of the day, you wouldn’t even use the pen since you don’t write journals, you have a secretary who does all your writing work, and the pen weighs too much like a baby hippo to be used for writing. You can’t even wear the pen like a bangle!
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t exactly own a limited edition pen from Montblanc; after all I’m not Marie Antoinette incarnate. Neither am I Carlos Slim Helu’s heiress. Besides, why would somebody waste a fortune on a pen made of expensive metals and studded with stones? You can’t even wear it on your ears or around your neck like a devotee of Lady Gaga. And you do get pens from Montblanc in Qatar, custom-made for the Qatari millionaires.
A fortune of blessings squandered on a pen – an object in gross disuse today – symbolises the rich buyer’s lack of foresight and infinite stupidity. No wonder they say that a fool and their money are soon parted. Besides, when investment is an option, what good is pointless squandering on something that is hardly used?
Ladies and Gentlemen of wealth, we are having an economic recession, in case you were too self-absorbed to know that. I agree that if you have wealth then you must, by default, have comforts as well, but a pen hardly categorises as material comfort. Buy a nice mansion with mirrored halls like Versailles (when you go bankrupt, you can auction it), or jewellery, or a little village off the coast. You could, better still, donate to the countless people without medical insurance, million starving children in godforsaken countries, institutions for the disabled. Just don’t buy a pen with glistening stones and a platinum nib when the rest of the world is clamouring for sunlight. Be practical and buy something of practical use, like a mansion with mirrored walls. Last night, while I stayed up reading Living, I came across an article on the remarkable beauty mirrors add to interior architecture. The pictures were amazing, and ever since, I have been day dreaming of rooms where beams of light dance through multiple reflections. Besides, living in a beautiful house is a luxury that comes handy unlike a pen.
Fact is, as my mother likes to believe, rich people are so inundated with wealth, they don’t have a clue on what to do with their booming fortunes, while students struggle to pay for college and little Indian children delight over a single pair of flip-flops for footwear. A nice palatial home, three brand new, off-the-showroom cars, exquisite jewellery, crystal ware, and mirrored halls are quite a lot of luxury. So why not let the remaining excesses flow into welfare of the less fortunate? Because at the end of the day, you wouldn’t even use the pen since you don’t write journals, you have a secretary who does all your writing work, and the pen weighs too much like a baby hippo to be used for writing. You can’t even wear the pen like a bangle!
| 37 |
| Vote |










Add Comments
Read More




Comments (2)






