Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani have a tight-knit family despite being one of the busiest and most influential business clans in the world. Part of what helps them hold their family together are the teachings of Dhirubhai Ambani, the patriarch of the family who built Reliance Industries, and his wife Kokilaben Ambani.
While Dhirubhai Ambani is surely an inspiration for businessmen all around the world, it was his relationship with his wife Kokilaben Ambani, that really cemented the Ambani name. Kokilaben Ambani, the matriarch of the family, not only played a role in her husband's success but also made sure that his legacy lives on.
Dhirubhai Ambani strived to become a top businessman but his wife Kokilaben always kept him grounded and in touch with reality. Kokilaben Ambani, born and raised in Jamnagar, once revealed how she spent her childhood there, doing household chores in her middle-class family.
Dhirubhai Ambani and Kokilaben Ambani got married in 1955. Kokilaben, in the interview, also said that her life changed when she married Dhirubhai Ambani. She stepped out of her house and travelled to different places and it was Dhirubhai Ambani who helped her adjust to such a new terrain.
After the couple was married, Kokilaben lived with her in-laws in Chorwad. While Dhirubhai Ambani travelled to expand his business, Kokilaben prayed for his success and waited for his letters.
"Dhirubhai had written a letter to me from Aden, which said, Kokila, I have bought a car and I will come to fetch you in that car. Can you guess what is the colour of the car? He then added, 'it is black, like me.' I liked his sense of humour the most. He came to pick me up in that car when I reached Aden. So it was a bullock cart at Chorwad, car at Aden, and plane and helicopter in Mumbai," Kokilaben Ambani was quoted as saying.
Kokilaben was always treated as an equal partner by Dhirubhai Ambani. She once revealed that even when dignitaries came to their house to visit, he would ask her to join him. He had also hired an English tutor for her to build her confidence.
"Even though I had studied in a Gujarati school, I had started learning English immediately after coming to Mumbai. This was also thanks to Dhirubhai's foresight. A tutor used to come in to teach English to the children. Dhirubhai said, Kokila why don't you learn English? I jumped at the suggestion. He would take me to five-star hotels so that I could cultivate a taste for Chinese, Mexican, Italian, and Japanese cuisine. Even when we went abroad, he would fill me in with information about the places we visited and even asked me to read about them. In short, he moulded me so well, that I would not feel out of place anywhere. I constantly adapted to change," she said.
On February 16, 1986, Dhirubhai Ambani suffered his first cerebral stroke. After this, he handed Reliance Industries to his sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani. In July 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani died after suffering his second stroke.
In 2007, Kokilaben Ambani wrote a book on Dhirubhai Ambani, titled, Dhirubhai Ambani: The Man I Knew in the English version and Dhirubhai Ambani: Maara Jeevan Sathi in the Gujarati edition. I
She mentioned in the book how Dhirubhai Ambani was a man, much more than the world witnessed.
Kokilaben Ambani and Dhirubhai Ambani's love story surely is one for the books. It has not only inspired their children Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, but also their grandchildren Akash Ambani, Isha Ambani, and Anant Ambani.
