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ECCENTRIC MILLIONAIRES
By : M.R.Sethi
'Money makes the
mare go". But in many cases money brings eccentricity also. Alan
Jenkins in his book The Rich: The Story of the Big Spenders,
describes an English eccentric who used to drive through the streets
of London in a carriage drawn by horses. Another big spender was an
American named Jim Brady who had an infinite passion for diamonds.
He had a bicycle with gems studded on it.
It is said that during British rule in India, the ruler of one of
the Indian slates invited the then Viceroy over a cup of tea. The
busy Viceroy who had neither time nor inclination to oblige the Raja
of a petty state, politely declined the invitation. But the Raja
wrote another letter to the Viceroy, announcing that he would offer
the distinguished guest the costliest cup of tea on earth. This
time, out of sheer curiosity, the Viceroy accepted the invitation.
The Viceroy and his entourage were seated in an open area in the
ruler’s palace. A makeshift fire place had already been erected
before the guests. The king ordered his servants to start preparing
the tea. A big pot was placed on the fireplace. Now the fire was
made – not with woods, but with crisp 100-rupee notes. Bags after
bags of currency notes were burnt down just to fulfill an eccentric
rajah’s whim.
Not all millionaires are big spenders. On the contrary, some of them
have been known to be very close-fisted with their money. The Nizam
of Hyderabad was considered to be among the richest men of the
world. He had an enormous private collection of diamonds and
emeralds. Yet he was so mean that he entertained his guests with
only a cup of tea, a solitary biscuit and a single cigarette. For 35
years he wore the same soiled, dandruff-encrusted fez. Although he
owned a gold service of 100 plates, he always ate off a tin plate,
squatting on the floor. He smoked the cigarette stubs left behind by
his guests.
The list of billionaire misers would easily be topped by Hetty
Green, who was nicknamed as the “Witch of Wall Street”. A shrewd
business woman, she accumulated so much wealth she came to be known
as the richest woman in Europe. But she was equally stingy and her
money saving habits were greatly eccentric. When her son fell ill,
she disguised herself as a poor woman and took him to a charity
hospital. But they recognized her and she fled saying she would cure
her son herself. Unfortunately her son contracted gangrene his leg
and had to be leg amputated. She always wore the same black dress
and never changed her underwear unless it wore out.
While collecting material for their famous book, the authors of
Freedom at Midnight, Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins came
across many examples of the eccentricities of Indian princes who
spent their time hunting, drinking or indulging in strange whims and
fancies.
The Maharaja of Gwalior was fond of electric trains. One of 'such
miniature trains were used to carry brandy around the table.
The ruler of Junagarh had an apartment for his pet dogs. The
apartment was equipped, with a telephone, electricity and domestic
servants. He entertained 150,000-people at the marriage of his
favorite bitch.
Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala (1900-1938) had 300 ladies in
his harem. The authors of Freedom at Midnight write, "During the
torrid Punjab summers, the harem moved out of doors in the evening
to Bhupinder's pool. The prince stationed a score of bare-breasted
girls at intervals around its rim. Chunks of ice bobbling in the
pool's water gave the hot air a delicate chill while the Maharaja
floated idly about, coming to port from time to time to caress a
beauty or sip a whisky ....."
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