Dhirubhai Ambani

There is no official biography of Dhirubhai Ambani.In its absence a book like ‘ The Polyester Prince ” has to suffice.That Hamish McDonald was not close to Dhirubhai Ambani is a fact.That is why I kept this article – for the contrast.Here Mukesh Ambani speaks about his father to Pritish Nandy.Enjoy this read!

What were your father’s childhood years like? Does he ever speak to you about them?

Very frequently, in fact. Stories about his childhood have always inspired us, taught us how to cope with life’s vicissitudes.

Papa was always very responsible and enterprising. When he was in school, he went to the foot of Mount Girnar — the famous mountain in Saurashtra, where he grew up in a small town called Chorwad in Junagadh — and opened his own shop. To sell bhajias to pilgrims over the weekend. This is how he earned his own money though his needs were few. Until he left for Aden, he wore only half pants!

Why did he go to Aden? Yemen is not exactly an El Dorado.

He was fond of adventure. I guess Aden provided him an opportunity to experience it. To escape his own background, to see the world. He actually went with a recommendation for a job, like people go to Dubai these days. He had just completed school. SSC at that time. Even that on his second attempt! It was like MABF. Matric Appeared But Failed.

Luckily for him, he had admirers at that young age. One of them liked his spirit of enterprise so much that he sent him off to Aden for a job with an Indian trading company. A pedhi. A pedhi was like a proprietary firm. He started there and then moved on to a job with Shell.

What kind of job?

It began at the petrol pump. Then he went on to logistics. Loading all the ships and airplanes, making sure that the entire fuel logistics for Shell worked in perfect synchronicity. Read more of this post