The ties that the Ambani family have had and continue to do
so are meant to be the entries of the record books. Once the most powerful family in India, the
foundation of devotion to each other was shaken after the demise of Dhirubhai
Ambani, the father of Ambani brothers. The way the two brothers feuded over the
split of the empire that their father had created from scratch, it formed for a
spectacle and was rancorous on so many levels. 4. But then, Kokilaben Ambani, a diminutive woman at 70, with sons
Mukesh and Anil, daughters Deepti and Neena, sons-in-law Raj Salgaonkar and
Shyam Kothari in tow, armed with a four-page agreement and a 300-word press
statement, brokered peace between her warring sons. "I am confident that
Mukesh and Anil will uphold the values of their father and work towards
enhancing value for RIL shareholders," she said.
The trouble was spelt when the elder brother started acting
really big to the extent that the younger one found himself isolated and
somewhat persecuted. Mukesh saw himself as the unquestionable boss, whereas
Anil thought himself to be an equal partner. Watching the very public
laundering of their linens, Kokilaben, their mother couldn’t afford to be a
passive witness anymore to the disintegration of the House that Dhirubhai
built. Recounting her family values as she had penned down in her book, Dhirubhai
Ambani— The Man I Knew, she said, “He (Dhirubhai) never outgrew those of us who
loved him nor did he ever let any of us drift away. His spirit still guides us
in all our endeavours and I hope that these values are carried forward by
future generations of the family.” Yet,
when she learned that her sons had truly drifted away from each other,
Kokilaben did a smart act. She summoned some of the best brains in Mumbai—K.V.
Kamath, the then Managing Director of ICICI, and JM Financial chief Nimesh
Kampani— to carve up the businesses between Mukesh and Anil. Rare are such instances where the court tells
the warring litigants to take their case to their mother. It is also a
testimony to the tacit and unobserved power that dwells in the hands of the
matriarch of the Ambani family. And like ideal sons, both Mukesh and Anil swore
by her intervention in the year 2005 and signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) that elaborated upon the family settlement in the presence of their
mother. But there’s more to her personality. It won’t be hyperbole to term her
as a matron saint as the way she forms to be the ideal mother-in-law as well.
She makes it a point to attend all functions of her daughters-in-law.
As regards the brothers, during their father’s tenure in
Reliance Industries, both Mukesh and Anil were eager disciples learning at the
feet of their father. The Ambani brothers began their careers as close
collaborators, with Anil once recounting their approach as “two bodies, one
mind.” On weekends, Anil has said, their father would lead them on
“incentive-oriented outings”—for instance, a 10-kilometer hike through the
rain, with a box of mangoes as a reward. Mukesh recounted that, to punish the
boys for acting out while guests were visiting, Dhirubhai once confined them
for “two days in the garage on water and roti.” There was never any doubt that
both would join the family business, and by their mid-20s they’d assumed
prominent roles: Mukesh as a hands-on manager of facilities, including
Reliance’s first domestic polyester plant, and Anil as an executive dealing
with government officials, investors, and the press. Kokilaben, in this regard,
wrote, “I must say Dhirubhai put Mukesh and Anil through many many trials of
fire as he painstakingly trained them for the days ahead.” Observers say that
the older Mukesh made a name for himself by being focused on operations and
business execution while the more flamboyant Anil dealt with the bankers and
the media. After the separation however, both Mukesh and Anil set out on
different paths of their respective agendas and lost little time for getting on
them.
And when it comes to deep instilled values running in their
veins, how can one miss Anil offering Mukesh an olive branch when the
infighting became too evident in the year 2009.“I sincerely believe that Mukesh
bhai and I can, even at this late stage, sort out all our disagreements, in a
constructive, cordial and conciliatory manner,” Anil said. And the rift between
the brothers did die out when the entire Ambani family got together for a Raas
Garba on the eve of Dhirubhai Ambani’s 80th birth anniversary in the year 2011.
The two brothers hugged each other at their ancestral home in the coastal town
of Chorwad where their father Dhirubhai spent his childhood. The spirited dandiya between Nita Ambani and
Tina Ambani, Anil's vigorous steps, Mukesh's characteristically shy but happy
dandiya steps, the happy vibes between the generations, all seemed too true to
be forced.
And then the brothers stuck out for each other during all
the family events. Sample the case of Mukesh’s daughter Isha’s wedding. He was
spotted warmly receiving the high-profile guests like Pranab Mukherjee, former
president of India, Rajnath Singh the current defence minister and so on. During
Mukesh’s elder son’s wedding festivities in Mumbai, Anil performed his family
duties with a calm demeanor, ensuring everyone was suitably refreshed and
properly oriented through the plant life and advising Akash on how to make a
grand entrance. The humility in them comes from the fact that despite their
estranged relationship when it comes to business both of them do not let it
reverberate on their bonding with each other. And cut-to March 2019, it was a
scene right out of a Bollywood flick, a living spectacle of sibling devotion
when Mukesh, the elder brother intervened to prevent his younger brother Anil
Ambani from going to jail by writing a very large cheque. Mukesh helped Anil
pay $67 million toward outstanding debt the day before a court-imposed
deadline. Without the payment, Anil would have faced three months behind bars.
And it only seems obvious how well Anil’s sons have taken
after Dhirubhai’s values and the humility he had the way they held onto him on
the business front with their father especially when he was seeing troubled
times. The modesty of Anmol and
Anshul reflects from the fact that they used to accompany their father once
they joined the business for the AGMs. Instead of giving into the vanity that
is very common in the families of tycoons, the grounded sons of Anil even gave
each other haircuts and groomed their father. Clearly, the next generation is
instilled with good values to carry forth the legacy.
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