Business Trailblazers of India

There’s something so empowering about certain women of substance. These are the ones who have left their marks in the sands of time and risen themselves from nothing, even during those yesteryears in India when the country was still making its peace with women surpassing men in every sphere. It was not about overpowering someone, but it was purely about breathing life into ones dreams so that they become real. And Tina Ambani didn’t fall an exception to this case. Born as Nivrutti Munim in 1955 in Mumbai, she was the youngest of the nine sisters and one brother in a Gujarati family residing in Bhuleshwar. She drew her inspiration from her elder sister Bhawna, a model and adopted the Anglicised name Tina and entered the beauty pageant circuit. Having the right mix of attributes needed to make it to the pageant, she was crowned Femina Teen Princess India 1975 and subsequently represented India at the International Teen Contest in Aruba 1978. And then it happened. Turns out, ...

There’s an adage that says that all the elegance is in the mind; and if you have got that, the rest in life follows. But there’s one stratum of people who are born with elegance, and there’s this other sect of people who create an illusion of it. The case of Tina Ambani and Nita Ambani respectively does not fall an exception to this rule. Today, these are the women who are behind the most dynamic business tycoons Mukesh and Anil Ambani. However, the similarity starts and ends with the letters of the names of both leading ladies of the family share. The younger daughter-in-law shot to fame as Tina Munim, the Gujarati chic who became a household name with her perennial hits. She came a long way right from starring in Dev Anand’s flick Des Pardes to being the chairperson of Kokmilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. And somehow, she seemed to be a cut above the rest be it from her charity art shows, to her work for the senior citizens and now steering the operations at the hospital....

“To me vintage textile is art, a comb from ancient India is art, dance is art,” says Tina Ambani, Chairperson of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. Sounds true because that’s how an artist views any creation that’s got a narrative to it, blended with liberated expression and the right mix of detailing breathed into it. Tina Ambani has been long known to be a tasteful and a very thoughtful art-collector. It is not just about her rich collection of paintings that pretty much reflect the astute eye-for-detail she has.     From collections of F.N. Souza, Sudhir Patwardhan, Jayshree Burman, to Bikash Bhattacharjee, she is an art-collector of sorts. She remarks, “Some people think ‘oh, she’s just a rich housewife buying art’,” since consciously she knows that the people who still want to see the former actress in her, are thwarted. But then she adds, “The artist in me moved on to other arts." No wonder, she had done a meticulous job encouraging not just the successful ones, ...

“We know there is intention and purpose in the universe, because there is intention and purpose in us”, said George Bernard Shaw once. And we know this rings in true for Anil Ambani, Chairperson of Reliance Group as well. It was just 3-4 months ago that he declared that more than Rs. 35,000 crores worth of loans have been serviced in the past year and he vowed to meet all the future payment obligations in a timely fashion. And this he has been quite consistent and religious with. A large chunk of the debt still remains and he still has a colossal amount of Rs. 9,390 million rupees of debt that he has to pare. As a matter of fact, he aims to be debt-free by March 2020. As of now, one of his subsidiaries, Reliance Power is focusing on the development of the second phase of the 1,500 megawatt gas-based projects in Bangladesh for which he has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh government to develop 3000 MW gas-based projects there. With this developmen...

“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...