Last week, Dhirubhai Ambani: The Man I Knew, a pictorial biography, penned by the person who probably knew him best – his wife Kokilaben -- was released in English and Gujarati. The occasion was Kokilaben’s 75th birthday.
In the book, Kokilaben traces her late husband’s biography (with a great many pictures thrown in) from his birth on 29 December 1932 to 6 July 2002, the day he breathed his last. It covers his early years in Yemen, his starting a business with only Rs 15,000 in his pocket in Bombay (he started out a small trader in the Mulji-Jetha Textile Market), and then how he went on to create India’s largest private enterprise (when he died, its turnover was Rs.75,000 crore).
The entire Ambani family was present for the book release. The nine grandchildren paid tributes to their grandfather at a small private function, attended by late Dhirubhai's close associates and friends. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Governor S M Krishna, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, Bihar Planning Commission deputy chairperson N K Singh, ICICI Bank chief K V Kamath, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and veteran Congress leader R K Dhawan were part of the gathering.
This picture book comes years after Hamish McDonald essayed The Polyester Prince, the official biography of Dhirubhai.
Aspiring entrepreneurs can take lessons from the rise and rise of Dhirubhai Ambani: how a small start can one day lead to the building of the biggest business empire in the country. And how one person can go on to guide the destiny of millions of others.
