In his interviews for print media and T.V. channels Mukesh Ambani has revealed facts about his father, his experience related to him and other information from his view point and feelings. Some of the relevant excerpts are reprinted below :
Q. You are a son of a historic personality. But your father went through difficult struggles in life. Did he talk to you about these day?
Mukesh : He often used to mention. Those episodes of struggle inspired us, both brothers. He led a simple life. He had never put on a full pair of pants before going to Aden. During his young years he worked for his own private expenses.
Q. What took him to Aden? Was he trying to evade education?
Mukesh : Papa did not get the right environment and facilities for education. He passed matriculation only on his second attempt. He went to Aden driven only by his industrious nature.
Q : Where were you born?
Mukesh : I was born in Aden. But Papa revealed his determination to return to India became stronger after my birth. Within one year of my birth he came back with us. My mother lived with him right from their marriage.
A sombre family occasion
Q : As an industrialist what qualities of your father influenced you most?
Mukesh : Papa had several outstanding qualities. I can’t single out one or two of them. What I liked best about him was his daring to take risks and managerial skills. He used to say the dreams can’t come true without accepting risks involved. And for realisation of dream good management was a must. Perhaps behind his success those two qualities played biggest part.
Q : What were the reasons for return from Aden?
Mukesh : It is obvious that he wanted to start his own business in India. In Aden he had seen vast possibilities in textile trade. While in Aden he had saved Rs. 50,000. In 1959 it was enough to start business at small scale. Some of his friends were in textile business. Upon return to Mumbai he did some retail business and exported alongside which included textiles. Before starting textile manufacturing papa wanted to feel market and learn finer points of the material by retail trading. Then polyester got invented and papa at once realised it could revolutionise the textile industry. So, in 1966 he set up textile mill at Naroda.
Q : How successes were gained thereafter?
Mukesh : It was the nature of Papa that whatever he undertook had full knowledge about it learnt before hand. He saw limitless possibilities in polyester in future. In polyester trading he made money. Several textile mills had come up based on polyester fibre already. The people thought he had come too late in the field. As a new manufacturer it was not easy for him to get established in the market. But then people did not know Papa. Very soon he was there as prominent player in polyester fabrics. That was the base for Reliance. Our petrochemicals complex made us self-sufficient in polyester industry inputs. And we made history thereafter.
Q : It is said that successes accompanied by failures. Hope is not everywhere, there is also gloom of defeats. Was Dhirubhai consider himself failure in any field?
Mukesh : Once Papa said he was disappointed with the numbers of Reliance share holders. Currently we have 5 million share holders. Papa wanted the figure to touch 50 million. He wanted the maximum number of people to share his profits. Giving the middle class Indians most benefit on their savings was his aim. He could not fulfil that dream. It disappointed him.
Q : Did Dhirubhai ever mention your grandpa and grandma?
Mukesh : Papa often expressed sadness on the death of his father. He had died before he left for Aden. Papa wished he were alive to witness the success. But grandma did see his rise. She died in 1979. Papa talked about his parents affectionately and with reverence.
Q : He was a ‘Showman’ in business. Did it reflect in his private life?
Mukesh : Oh…no…no, no! In personal life Papa led a very simple life. Luxury and splendour had very limited space in his life. Perhaps you don’t know that he started using his name plate in office only in 1966 when he had set up Naroda Mill already. For him Reliance came first and then Dhirubhai.
Q : What did he think about the youth?
Mukesh : Papa thought the responsibility of rebuilding India rested on the shoulders of youth. He always respected the talent of the youth. He admired the youthful energies and their eagerness to move forward. The positve aspect of this thought of Papa can be seen reflected in Reliance. In the perspective of total capacity of Reliance average age is 35 years. It does not mean that he disregarded the experience of age. But about youth he always said they yearned to learn and their thinking was not stagnant regarding novelty. His 500 billion rupee business empire proves the veracity of his thinking.
Q : If we talk in religious perspective what kind of faith he lived with?
Mukesh : He was a total believer in spirit. He would look for god in humans. For him the fellow human beings were the means to serve God. He used to say the best worship of God was to wipe tears off the eyes of mankind and in showing the way of self dependence to others. For him Gita’s message of karma was the greatest religious teaching.
Q : Was Dhirubhai satisfied with the progress of his industries?
Mukesh : Papa’s dreams were bigger than his works.
All his mega projects could not fructify. So, he was never satisfied. But we considered his dis-satisfaction and impatience his great virtues. Infact, he taught all the Reliance people to be impatient. He considered impatience and dissatisfaction as rungs of the ladder of success. Papa would say a satisfied person
falls short of inspiration. Had Papa been patient he would not have toiled till the end. Like an average man he could have retired to become a vegetable of easy chair. But dissatisfaction and impatience always spurred him to soldier on.
Q : What did he think about the future of our country?
Mukesh : He wanted to see India as a economically self-dependent and developed nation. He thought that economic progress of India would serve as a base for progresses in the other fields. Papa never took Reliance as his personal rise but as a part of nation’s economic progress. It gave him a great satisfaction that in the country’s economic progress rate he had also made some contribution. He wished to see no unemployed in our land. In Indian endeavours he saw limitless possibilities. The umemployment of the youth of the country worried him. Had he got sufficient funancial backing he would have dared to wipe out unemployment from India.
Towards retail culture
On the occasion of India’s 60th Independence Day in the year 2007 Mukesh Ambani revealed his ambitious project to enter retail market through ‘Reliance Fresh etc’. About this new retail culture he said—”The consumers must get quality goods at reasonable rates. It is their right. The producers of goods and consumer items need to be freed of middlemen system. They will better value for their produce and consumers will get have goods at competitive prices.” Mukesh wants to usher in retail trade revolution by 2012 in 1500 cities of India. For that purpose Reliance Fresh etc will use 100 million square feet space for outlets throughout the country.
