“I don’t go by the rule book. I lead from the heart, not the
head”, said Princess Diana who was known for her rebellious attempts at
reaching out to the people in pain and yet nothing seemed to touch her when it
came to her passion for the ones in need. Tina Ambani, Chairperson of Kokilaben
Dhirubhai Ambani is pretty much the woman sashaying on the same wavelength when
it comes to showing compassion and putting in the kind of attention the job she
is doing demands. Always keeping an open
mind, she’s made her peace with being called a catalyst, a rejecting
businesswoman, philanthropist, even a corporate diva. As she scrutinizes the
one million square foot healthcare colossus situated in the heart of the city
of Mumbai she says, “I just like connecting people.”
And turns out, she comes across as agreeable to many. Her
co-star, who also is a very good family friend of hers, says with a heartily
laugh, “Tina was an original. I wouldn't call her bohemian exactly, but she
wasn't like these other actresses who came with an entourage. She was a person of her own terms and had this
great air of confidence around her when it came to dealing with people”. He
adds, “She was not an earth-shaking actress, but she was fiercely diligent.”
Today, even as she’s 61 years of age, she is as much of a
cool woman as she was when she registered herself onto our minds, winning Miss
Teenage Inter-Continental in Aruba, making it to the cover of Femina and strutting through an array of
iconic flicks such as Karz, Rocky and
Souten. There is something
quintessential about how she finds love in what she does. And that she says has
made her who she is today. She quit movies after a decade to go to Los Angeles
and study interior design since she felt she was not growing enough. After two
years when she returned to India, she got on-board on a series of enterprises
which bonded her artistic sense to her selflessness. Commenting on her work at Harmony she
remarks, “Harmony Art came from my working in the family textile business.
After marriage, I began to take a keen interest in the design and R&D of
the furnishing and textiles lines in the company. That's how the Harmony Art
shows happened.” The exhibitions held for Harmony Art, showcased 1,500 artists
and the footfall it enjoyed were as great as that of half a million across 15
years. But it was unfortunate that the
Indian market for art had seen a huge descend and then things started getting dense.
Nonetheless, she continued doing a lot of private art shows as a part of her
cause towards encouraging emerging artists and for art lovers as well as
international collaborations, workshops and residences.
The inception for Harmony for Silvers Foundation, on the
other hand, happened because of a chance comment by a friend of hers about not
having told his mother he loved her before she died. She is of the belief that
comfortable, graceful and secure ageing is imperative, especially in India
since there are huge gaps in the Indian healthcare system. And now that she’s
running a hospital she says that she has realised that these gaps hold
relevance for all ages. And this is the reason why the hospital which was
originally a cardiac care specialty has transformed into a multi-disciplined
eco-system.
As of now, she’s completely involved with the 16-floor
hospital, where she’s steered everything from the scratch, be it construction
to interiors to zeroing onto what faculty has to be set up. Akin to a mini
city, it has 2,300 people in it. She remarks that the hospital had dedicated
research teams that identified what are the gaps in healthcare in India and the
team got together to bridge those. Tina feels that it is integral to marry the
old convention of ethics, care and compassion with the latest technology and
infrastructure.
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