Contrasts in the sand

A recent issue of The Philippine Star carried a list of what Forbes Magazine said were the 40 richest Filipinos. Topping that list was Jaime Zobel de Ayala, in whose name Forbes attached a personal worth of two billion dollars.

That is two billion dollars, not pesos. But for those of us too far below the economic ladder to understand what two billion dollars are like, let us imagine they are not dollars but just easier-to-grasp pesos.

Now let us imagine we have two thousand pesos in our pockets right now. To understand what two billion is like, imagine that each peso of the two thousand pesos in your pocket is a million pesos. Again, imagine each peso of your two thousand is a million.

That is what two billion pesos is like. Now, if you are ready to test the limits of your credulity, multiply each peso of your imaginary two thousand that is an imaginary million by 40, and you have your two billion dollars.

No wonder Don Jaime finds great relaxation in his hobby of photography. At least the realities that he captures with his camera can be confined within the borders of his photos. They are realities that, while at once soothing and provocative, always stay as they are.

For at least two or three years now, Don Jaime has been fascinated by sand formations. Shapes, figures and designs woven in the sand by water and wind do not escape his passion for detail and interpretation.

The photos Don Jaime has taken of these sand formations have been made into beautiful and expensive calendars that he has been giving away as gifts during Christmas. I have been a regular recepient of these calendars even though Don Jaime and I do not know each other.

Some people who have seen the calendars see nothing in the photos of sand. To them I always say, if a man who made billions transforming visions into realities sees shapes in the sand, the shapes must be there, and if you do not see them, you will never earn a million.

I probably will never earn a million myself as, admittedly, I also see nothing in the sand photos. But just having and seeing them gives me a different kind of satisfaction, that of knowing that a man of such vast wealth can still be moved by something so down to earth.

For I know people of far lesser wealth, and even much lesser intellect, being consumed by a compelling illusion of dwelling in castles in the air. With no feet planted squarely on the ground, they think the world owes them a living.

Many of these lesser mortals roam the corridors of power, swaggering on the strength of mandates either been bought or stolen. Any formations they happen to see on the sand are their own footprints, beaten paths that criss-cross in a never-ending tale of shifting allegiances.

It is no wonder then that the people in the Forbes list of top 40 richest Filipinos got to where they are. Their real strength, and therefore their real wealth, lies in their capacity to see a vision, chart a course in that direction, and get there as soon as possible.

Many in the list had modest beginnings, beginnings that are familiar to you and me. People like Henry Sy, the Aboitizes, John Gokongwei all have inspiring stories to tell because they were present at the creation. They were the makers of their own destinies.

It would not surprise me if I am told any one of these distinguished people also see shapes in the clouds. For it is not the possibility or impossibility of seeing anything in nothing that matters but in doing something about it. Only in doing can anything be created.

On the other hand, people of lesser means continue to harp on the dead horses of history, such as Edsa I and Edsa II. These incidents are not as illusory as sand. They are realities that are dead. Interpreting them brings neither wealth or even hope.