Opinion | Anant Ambani: New-age industrialist or an old-school biz icon?

Anant Ambani. PTI

I belong to a generation that saw the rise and rise of Dhirubhai Ambani, who thumbed his nose at the licence control regime, and who found ways around the control raj. We read the stories about Reliance Industries but most people winked at them as the horrible strangulation of industries. The other reason for letting these stories get buried was the tremendous value that Dhirubhai shared with the investors. His was the first Indian company that began from base zero and went on to make thousands of retail investors prosperous. Thus, he began receiving grudging appreciation. He always seemed down to earth, unaffected by MNCs’ bluster and could deal with foreign companies with a style that was almost nonchalant.

Here I may make a disclaimer that I have zero interest in the share market and I do not hold a single share of Reliance.

Then came the sad spectacle of two brothers fighting over a huge legacy. Low profile Mukesh plodded on, working day and night to nurture his Reliance group to be a global power in the Petrochem sector apart from creating world-class companies. He was typically a non-fashionable, low-profile good employer. I have heard how he pored over detailed drawings of his Petrochem plant and found a desi jugaad (solution) when his machines got damaged due to floods in the plant. There are legendary stories that I have heard first-hand about him conducting meetings before sunrise and providing sumptuous breakfast to his managers. I have heard such benefits and protection to the families of the employees that they felt that they were part of a large family. One could see the quintessential good-hearted ‘shrimant’ of ancient Bharat in him.

Yes, he makes his managers work hard, but creates such an unbelievable support system that families do not feel alienated as rewards reach the entire family.

As Mukesh seemed to have become too big to be ignored as a social personality, one could see his religious and spiritual side in various functions. He has been unapologetic about his dharmic identity, and so has his entire family. Then, came the ambitious world-class project — the grand opera house built on his premises with a commitment to the finest in the business. One cannot but gasp at the quality and grandness of this Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre that has fired up the theatre of Mumbai. Nita Ambani’s avatar as the custodian of Indian art forms and handicrafts has enlivened the social landscape of Mumbai. All these actions of Mukesh and his wife, no doubt, created a very positive public image of the Ambani family; but they still seemed a distant rich family. Then, Anant Mukesh Ambani burst into the public domain.

Nothing could have created the solid positive impact that Anant in a week achieved for the house of Ambanis. I saw him first on Network18 with Anand Narasimhan, and then on India Today with Rahul Kanwal. He is everything that a billionaire of the most powerful family of India should not be. He is humble, he is warm, he speaks Hindi without affectation and his love and respect for family flows forth unhesitatingly. He showed that his is a modern family that carries the most ‘outdated’ values of the most important pillar of our civilisation — our family — and that is their strength. It has rung a bell in the hearts of millions who saw his recent interactions in the media. Bhagwan Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that people copy the leading persons of society. They do what the achievers do.

Anant is a person who has been joked about but he has never bothered to respond to them, nor does he show any rancour towards the people who have talked in a condescending manner about him. His answer has come from his work. The person who created an entire universe for the animal kingdom in Jamnagar in what was once an arid desert-like region, kept quiet till his project had reached a stage where he could showcase it. And when he threw open his doors, people were left stunned. Not just stunned by the sheer size and quality of his creation but also his commitment to animals — big and small. His love for his friends of the forest is so transparent that one cannot but be impressed.

I am not an Instagram person, nor do I follow high-society people. I have cynicism for the high and mighty because of their apparent supercilious behaviour in society. But Anant has forced me to drop this cynicism for the present. I have met many humble highly successful industrialists. Most of the Gujaratis and Marwaris till the last generation I have met are so self-effacing that one feels humbled. However, their new generation does carry a swagger and does not hide its ego. That is why I found Anant like a breeze of fresh air. He seems believably genuine. He is thoroughly Swadeshi in his attitude, his business life and his love for his motherland and family. I hope others in the high society get inspired by him.

As I close this note, I feel almost embarrassed because I never praise anyone unconditionally, even the most amazing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has unchained the genius of Bharat and brought us to the dawn of a new Bharat. My inherent cynicism whispers to me that chances are that I may be proven wrong and Anant may turn out to be as ruthless a businessman as any others and may act in a way that may betray his social responsibility over his business interests, and people may show me this piece in future. However, as of today, his scores rank him very high as the kind of industrialist that Bharat needs, and I believe most people will agree with me.

Anant has done for the Reliance industry and the Ambani family image with his project and his personality what millions of dollars could not have done. May God bless him with a healthy and blissful married life. May he remain the apple of the eyes of his parents and siblings.

The writer is a well-known author and political commentator. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.

Disclaimer: Network18 and TV18 – the companies that operate News18.com – are controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.