Anil Ambani: Setting a Precedent for Unprecedented Values

“We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat”, said John Steinbeck an American author. The media today seems to have conveniently devoured the fact that they are more the vices than the virtues that should take centre-stage in reportage since according to the media fraternity, drama, action and misdeeds sell.

Hence, the ones who had made it big once, but now are seeing tough times, have been made to suffer because our mainstream media does not seem to get enough of the fact that they have been stricken off the bandwagon of the plutocrats. What grabs the spotlight is where they wronged and the whole charade starts there. It’s more about the ‘have-nots’ than the ‘haves’.

In case of coverage about Anil Ambani, the picture couldn’t get any worse. The media was more concerned about what was he not doing right than what he did right in the past. What they missed on, is the fact that in life failures are as spontaneous as night after a bright sunny day.

But on an afterthought, Anil Ambani has been quite resilient to all this humiliation that he has been put through. His calm demeanour speaks volumes the way he holds onto his family values.

Recently he was spotted at the Badrinath-Kedarnath temples with his family. Anil and Tina looked completely absorbed in devotion reflecting their firm religious values. And this was not the first time the family visited the temple. They have been frequenting the temple every year.

While the infighting between the brothers during the split was portrayed in such a fashion as if they are washing their dirty linen in public, very few of them mentioned the way Anil offered an olive branch to his elder brother Mukesh. He said, “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”. This was during the case of his elder brother’s company Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and alleged favouritism towards it by the oil ministry at the cost of national interest. He added, “Throughout this very trying period, I have maintained the greatest of love, affection and respect for Mukesh Bhai—as I have done since my birth," he said. “There can be no better gift to my mother, Smt. Kokilaben Ambani in her 75th year, and to the legacy of our beloved father, Shri Dhirubhai Ambani, the proud creator of the Reliance Group." As a matter of fact he once fondly quoted about his relationship with his brother saying it was of “great personal respect and super cordial”.

His humility comes from his staunch values that have been instilled in him by his father Dhirubhai Ambani. On being asked whether he sensed an air of unfairness around what he got as a part of the family settlement, he said, “I did exactly as my mother wanted. Nothing else prevails. If my mother would have told me to walk with whatever clothes I was wearing, I would have touched her feet and done exactly that”.  He added, “Please remember that my father was a petrol pump operator when he started his career and came with Rs. 500 from Yemen, Aden.”

And then, despite his estranged relationship with his brother in profession, Anil makes it a point that he does not let this strain get the best of him when it comes to family gatherings and functions. The way the entire Ambani family got together to commemorate Dhirubhai Ambani’s 80th birth anniversary after being at odds with one another, the sight looked like just another family making merry. It was not an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ situation. They appeared at ease, eating and praying together, and in a scene unimaginable not so long ago, even dancing with each other at the local temple.

The truth lies in the details. Anil’s poise is a spectacle when attending the weddings of his nieces and nephews in the family. From receiving the long-list of high profile guests warmly, to actively partaking in the rituals of the ceremony, it sets a greater stage for the kind of cooperation that is needed in families where sibling rivalry is too evident.

For all that is doing the rounds on the internet and the media, there is one thing to take away from here.  The dark walls of fate that enclose his present will see brighter days ahead once he finds the door to the sunny meadows. Till then what we need to bear in mind is that he is after all the son of Dhirubhai Ambani.