“You have seen more Canada than many in Ontario," said Sophia, when I finished narrating about the time we spent with our friends, Reji, Marina, Premod and Betty. My wife, her brother and I were with Sophia, my wife's cousin and her husband Sherry for two days. “No, you haven't done the Thousand Island Cruise,” Sherry said. That’s how the four of us and Sophia's daughter reached Gananoque, the picturesque banks of the St Lawrence River to board the ferry.
Thousand Island is an archipelago of about 1,800 Islands, strewn along the St Lawrence River. Some islands belong to the USA and the rest to Canada. The smallest island amongst them is the Hub Island, big enough to hold a small house and a few bushes and the largest among them is the Wolfe Island, approximately 124 sq kms and home to more than a 1000 people. One amongst the thousand is Heart Island, called so because of its shape. I'm not sure if the shape was nature's gift to mankind or the reverse through human ingenuity.
It wasn't the tourist season. There were only a few to board the ferry. We could sit anywhere and soak in the breathtaking view on offer. The ferry sailed out on time. It was cold and windy. A few dared to walk onto the deck and quickly retreated into the warmth of the cabin only to be lured back by the breathtaking view. I was among those shuttling between the wind kissed deck and the warm cabin.
“To the left and in front of us, is the famous Heart Island. The magnificent structure you see is the Boldt Castle,” I heard the skipper announce. The howling became unbearable as the wind picked up speed. I could not hear anything more of what the skipper said. Pulling the balaclava down to cover my face and freezing chin, I braved the winds to see the majestic beauty called Boldt Castle. I stood on the deck admiring the castle as the ferry went around before returning to base.
I do not know whether it was my inability to comprehend what was announced or the enchanting looks of the structure, I could not get Boldt Castle off my mind even after returning to the warmth of Sherry’s and Sophia’s nest. As soon as I got a chance, I read up on the castle. The castle once belonged to the millionaire hotel magnate George C Boldt, who had stakes in Hotel Waldorf Astoria in New York City and The Bellevue Stratford in Philadelphia. He was so much in love with his wife Louise, he decided to gift her with a beautiful, six story, 120 room castle filled with the finest of everything. The construction started in 1900. He employed around 300 people to convert his fantasy into reality on the Island, then known as Hart Island. The love story unfortunately ended sadly. In 1904, Louise passed away unexpectedly at the age of 41 cutting short a marriage of 27 years. Heartbroken, Boldt ordered cessation of all work immediately. It is believed he never returned to the island. The structure, left to vagaries of weather, stood as a skeletal reminder of lost love for more than 70 years. In 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority took over the castle for a sum of $1, restored it, and converted it into a tourist attraction. The Taj Mahal was a mausoleum but this was different. The castle and the couple refused to leave my mind space. The man and his immense love for his wife impressed me. I felt bad for him.
George C Boldt must have seen and successfully surmounted many challenges to reach that state of wealth to be able to buy Islands in the region and construct a sprawling castle for his wife. How could an astute businessman like Boldt be irrecoverably shattered by one catastrophic event? Can love be so debilitating? What happened to the immense wealth he had amassed by then? Did they have children and what happened to them? How was the Heart Island estate managed for over 70 years? Surely, there had to be more to the story. I decided to explore.
The Army has a lot to teach. All operations undertaken by the army can generally be grouped either under offensive or defensive warfare. Stalemates, long or short, are possible in both. When there is enough room for maneuver and the force can reach far deep into the enemy territory we get to see Maneuver Warfare in full flow. But if the opponent is tough, resilient and has the capability to take a beating and still fight back, what started as an aggressive advance soon becomes a war of attrition. Long wars inevitably become wars of attrition. Though experts have been speaking of short intense wars, even the most mismatched contests have turned into attrition wars. In attrition, the final victory doesn't belong to the one who moved fast and deep but to the one who took losses on the chin, regrouped, recreated resources and reserves, applied it against the enemy wearing him out and finally forcing him to kneel.
Life is very much a war of attrition.
It does not fetch us victory with a few maneuvers and quick thrusts here and there. It is a marathon that starts the day we are born and ends only with the last breath. Here time is the adversary and it can rain adversities by the hordes.
Gains and losses, success and failures are part of human life. To expect a life filled only with ascent is unreasonable. It may not be possible to succeed in everything that we do or keep increasing the scale of success in every attempt that we make. We are bound to hit roadblocks, achieve outcomes below expectations and at times even grave disappointments. Some losses or failures we encounter can be so devastating that we could end up questioning the very purpose of life. Many succumb to such losses while a few manage to take it in their stride and move on.
How did Boldt fare in his personal war of attrition?
Born on 25th April 1851 in Bergen auf Rügen in Prussia, Boldt came to America in his teens. He started as a dishwasher in a hotel and rose up the chain doing other low-level jobs. His ability to preempt requirements of guests earned him recognition. He went on to manage the famous Bellevue hotel in Philadelphia. He transformed the hotel and made it a niche place for the elite. He became the name in luxury hospitality by bringing class, style and sophistication to the hotel industry. His success brought him wealth. His flair of doing everything on a lavish scale seemed to have brought him to own Heart Island.
The loss of his wife impacted him but his business continued to flourish. He managed his estates and hotels till he died on 5th December 1916. Obviously, he managed to contain his loss, isolate it from everything else and win the war of attrition.
It is not necessary to be rich like Boldt to have a heart like him. When we face adversities, which we think are insurmountable, we too can make our hearts strong and steel our will to fight as long it takes, yet retaining our ability to live and love like George C Boldt.
(You can see more of the castle on my Instagram reels.)
There are/were many in the world who were born poor but amassed enormous wealth only to be squandered without any return.George C Boldt seems to be one among them. We still don't value people who submitted everything at their disposal for the well being of the downtrodden but keep praising the people for making their fantasies come true at any cost.
ReplyDeleteShah Jahan commissioned the Taj Mahal in 1631 after his wife died while giving birth to their 14th child. Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around ₹5 million, which in 2024 would be approximately ₹35 billion (US$77.8 million).
In September 1657, Shah Jahan was ailing and appointed his eldest son Dara Shikoh as his successor. This nomination led to a succession crisis among his three sons, from which Shah Jahan's third son Aurangzeb (1658–1707) emerged victorious and became the sixth emperor, executing all of his surviving brothers, including Crown Prince Dara Shikoh. After Shah Jahan recovered from his illness in July 1658, Aurangzeb imprisoned him in Agra Fort from July 1658 until his death in January 1666.Could these monuments ever ingrain the spirit behind their construction to the future generations, I have serious doubts on it.
Jagajeeve, Pala
Thank you very much for the detailed comment. I agree with you on one point and disagree with you on a few.
DeleteFirst the point where we converge.
There are many who make a lot of money and squander it away. Easy get easy go is the dictum. Many people who win lottery, reality games, or races make a lot of money and become rich suddenly. Unaware of what to do with it they are led to lay their money waste. “A fool and his money are soon parted,” is a very old proverb. Nothing has changed ever since the proverb was first pronounced. Interestingly Such people give a surge to the local economy but seldom create any wealth. They just get a few moments to hold the money and a life long baggage of loss.
Now coming to the points that we can agree to disagree.
I used to wonder why people, especially the rich , spend so lavishly when there are so many people suffering or poor and cannot afford even a square meal a day. That feeling vanished when I did a course in economics and business management.
Creation of wealth by one individual necessarily is not at the cost of someone else at least not always. When a person is creating wealth and spends it on himself or others he's actually moving the wheels of the economy. Directly or indirectly many people in the area get a part of the money. This doesn't apply if the man stashes away his money and sucks that much currency out of circulation. That normally happens when the wealth is ill begotten.
The principle and phenomenon can be understood better if we see the process purely as an economic activity, detached and without any bias.
If you look at the number of Nobel prize winners, economists out number scientists by a huge margin.
Now coming to Boldt. He started as a poor man, worked his way up, made a lot of money, converted it into wealth and continued to make his estate grow till his end even after he lost his wife. Imagine he employed more than 300 people for about 4 years only for the transformation of the island and construction of the structure. Everything had to be brought into the place by boats and tugs. If you can look at the economics of it, a large number of people earned their livelihood from his one fad.
Yes for us looking back we can judge him and his base for being in love with his wife. Let us be honest. Don't we give our spouses, children, relatives, and friends gifts and money? We may not do it with a castle or a house but we do it within our means. I was reading in some articles about how a rich youngster who had a wedding function that lasted for many days across many venues got gifted by the rich and famous with planes, flats, houses, and so many other things in so many exotic places. To every man his means!
Even the Taj Mahal must have employed countless artisans.
Thank you very much for reading the article and creating a healthy discussion.
There's a factual inaccuracy in my comment above. Economics is nowhere near medicine or other pure sciences when the number of Nobel awards are concerned. Though the Nobel awards were instituted much before, Nobel for economics came into existence only in 1968. Since then economics has received awards 55 award s til.2023. ( this is what I could wean from public domains)
DeleteThe error from inadequate research is regretted. My profoundest apologies.
“The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” Bible: Proverbs 10:22.
ReplyDeleteWealth gained through moral means is more secure than riches gained through sin. Riches are from the Lord, and should be acknowledged as such, and not attributed to the industry, diligence, sagacity, and merit of men. It also reminds people to appreciate success that was obtained in the righteous way.
Pursuit of wealth and success in an immoral way often leads to stress, anxiety, and moral compromise. In our consumer-driven society, the idea of material wealth as the ultimate measure of success can lead people to prioritise financial gain over their own well-being and the well-being of others.
There will be no sorrow if the wealth accumulated is spend in the righteous way to help the humanity and to take care of the environment.
Thank you very much for the detailed comment. From a moral perspective what you have said is correct to the last syllable. Unfortunately even charity has become a business and philanthropy a conduit to whitewashing.
DeleteMaybe sometime such people would be called to account.
Let us hope so.
Well written and quite philosophical. Live and war always had similar lessons to learn
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. War afterall is only a violent manifestation of individual or collective disagreement.
DeleteWell articulated! Life takes us to very unlikely and unpredictable crossroads and the path that each one choose is different. At that juncture it may be the wise or best decision from his point of view.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
DeleteYou are right.
Will anyone take a decision knowing it to be wrong or contrary to the outcome he or she desires?
Quite a philosophical blog!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
DeleteExcellent philosophy. Man proposes but God disposes. There is no sin in hard work to attain position and riches. However how you dispose of your wealth matters. In the course of life I have come across many who have acquired wealth by devious means but sadly could not enjoy the fruits of it. Philanthropy is also a means of justifying ones actions in acquiring illgotten wealth. Although its human nature to always want to have more
ReplyDeleteThank you very much
DeleteWhat troubles a society is ill gotten wealth becoming tool to philanthropy. That can never be philanthropy. It is another form of investment, this time for gaining social and political clout.
Imagine special places for t rich in place of worship.
That's is what money can do.
That's is why religions become powerful.
Good Evening Sir, the article intriguingly combines historical narrative with strategic commentary. It sheds light on how attrition can define long-standing conflicts while interweaving the legacy of Boldt’s Castle as a symbol of perseverance. The blend of military history with architectural symbolism is captivating, inviting readers to reflect on resilience and ambition in different contexts. The prose is engaging and thought-provoking, with excellent use of imagery to connect past and present themes.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
DeleteLiked the way you intrinsically waved your thoughts to give that fine piece. Interesting. Heartwarming