TributeDostana: Bharatbhai Shahand Dhirubhai AmbaniIt is ten years since Dhirubhai Ambani, the Reliance tycoon passedaway, leaving behind a legacy of industrial entrepreneurship,hard work and dedication for his countrymen. Dubai’s well-knownentrepreneur Bharatbhai Shah, his close associate, pays tribute to anold friend.By: Bandana JainThis is a story of two stalwarts,compelling personalities-one,Bharatbhai Shah, a successfulentrepreneur in Dubai and theother, India’s richest person, theReliance tycoon, the late Dhirubhai Ambani.Both saw a part of the world some six decadesago from the same eyes, at the same time,Bharatbhai Shah (second from left) with Dhirubhai Ambani at bhoomipujan ceremony of Jamnagar Oil Refinery in 1988at the same place. Both Dhirubhai andBharatbhai shared a series of coincidencesstarting from having the same birthdate andbirth-time-28th December 1932, 5:00 am. “Iwas born in Surendranagar and Dhirubhai inthe Chorwad district of Gujarat. This distanceof 230 kilometres made all the differenceto our lives –of roughly 232 million dollars!“But things happen for some reason inour life,” says Bharatbhai Shah, as herecollects the days of a bygone era.Both passed the SSE exam in 1948.Both spoke no English at all.Both went to Aden for a livelihood,Bharatbhai in 1948, Dhirubhai in 1950.Both worked in the same company:A. Besse and Co. in Aden.They were both junior clerks,Dhirubhai earned a salary of 200shillings, while Bharatbhai earned 25shillings more because of two yearsseniority. Both worked together onadjacent tables for seven years.Both hailed from humblebackgrounds, remembers Bharatbhai.82The <strong>International</strong> <strong>Indian</strong>
“I came to Aden at the age of 16. At thattime, my father earned a monthly salary of Rs65 while Dhirubhai‘s father was a teacher inthe village of Chorwad. So we both had ourroots in the common class of thecommunity where having a sweetwas equivalent to a celebration.”“We both made our namespopular – Dhirubhai, on thebusiness front, myself in jan seva(social work),” says Bharatbhai.Their wives also hailed fromcommon families. Dhirubhai’swife, Kokilaben, was fromJamnagar in Gujarat, whileInduben (Bharatbhai’s wife),belonged to Jetpur in Rajasthan.But then there was a hugedifference! Bharatbhai says,“Dhirubhai had a gigantic visionand I was as good as zero in that.It was destined that we live together and sharea part of our lives together in Aden. We weregood friends and neighbours. We stayed in thesame house sharing a common courtyard. Sowe shared many things in our life.”Bharatbhai met Dhirubhai for the first timeon 30th May 1950 and they stayed togetherfor seven years. A. Besse and Co., was foundedby French businessman Antonin Besse. Withover 7000 employees, it was the largest transcontinentaltrading firm east of the Suez. Thecompany owned ships and docks and wasthe trading agent for a large number of firmsfrom all over the world. It dealt with goodsranging from sugar, spices, food grains andtextiles to office stationary, tools, machineryand petroleum products, and handled everyaspect of the business – cargo booking,handling, shipping, forwarding and wholesalemerchandising.Dhirubhai worked as a delivery order clerkin the Shell Co. department, while Bharatbhaiworked as a junior clerk in the shippingdepartment. Even though it was a desk job,it gave Dhirubhai valuable insights into theworking of an international trading firm. AsDhirubhai said later, “It was at A. Besse & Co.that I learnt how a big business should berun!” It was here that he observed how doingthe right thing at the right time, irrespective ofthe costs, was the key to success.A. Besse and Co. had arranged for amess which catered for about 30 people.When Dhirubhai reached Aden, he was givena room at the bachelors’ boarding houseDhirubhai Ambani and his wife Kokilaben with their two sonsMukesh and Anilwhere Ramnikbhai, his brother, lived. Theyshared the quarters with 25 Gujarati clerksand office boys.Dhirubhai, being rather rough and shorttempered,did not make many friends forhimself at that time. Bharatbhai remembers,“I was the tiniest, thinnest man with a mereheight of five feet. At the mess, Dhirubhaiwould take my share of milk and declare, “jokarna hai kar lo” (Do whatever you want).Years later, when Dhirubhai entered intobusiness he literally snatched away businessfrom the Birlas and Tatas. That experience ofsnatching milk from his colleagues and later inbusiness proved his tough business acumen.”Dark and robust with an athletic build,Dhirubhai was a towering personality even asa young man. His physical strength was suchthat he climbed the mountains in Aden byrunning up the slopes. To everyone’s surprise,he savoured the bitter neem tree juice as ifhe was sipping whisky. His will power wasstrong and interest in taking care of his health,extraordinary. During our times in Aden, hewas so physically fit that he was nicknamedgaama (a pehelwaan or wrestler). Dhirubhaihad always loved the great outdoors and evenin Aden, would set off on long treks, climbingthe mountains in and around the port city orswimming in the sparkling blue waters of itspicture-perfect beaches.‘‘It is truethat I wasborn inGujarat.But I wasreborn inBombay. Itgave birthto thespirit thathas movedme all mylife.- LateDhirubhaiAmbani‘‘The <strong>International</strong> <strong>Indian</strong> 83
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