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Tribute‘‘Accordingto BharatbhaiShah,Dhirubhaiwas oneof the rareindividualswholived andbreathedthe Gitain everyfacet ofhis life.‘‘Gradually, Dhirubhai and Bharatbhaibecame good friends. In Aden at that timethere were very few entertainment options,other than open air movies (television cameonly in 1964). Hence all six of them, whichincluded Dhirubhai’s elder brother Ramnikbhaiand his wife, Dhirubhai’s wife, Kokilaben andBharatbhai’s wife Induben used to sit in thecourtyard on a choir bed and enjoy fun-filleddiscussions. We complemented each otherin good and bad moods. Bharatbhai fondlylooks back at the sweet moments when he andDhirubhai went together for family outingsand enjoyed ‘Kitty Kola’ (date juice or khajoorka paani). As neighbours, Bharatbhai’s wifeInduben assisted Ramnikbhai’s wife‘s during herperiod of delivery. Also, when Dhirubhai’s sonMukesh was born, Induben was there to assistKokilaben. Ramnikbhai stayed in Aden for nineyears and Dhirubhai for seven years before heBharatbhai Shah (left) with Dhirubhai Ambani (right) at Reliance stall inArt & Silk exhibition in Mumbai in 1977left for Bombay.In those days, employees of A. Besse & Co.were considered to be the luckiest NRIs in theMiddle East. So when Dhirubhai decided toreturn to India in 1957, Bharatbhai asked themost obvious question, “Why are you goingback to India? You are a fool to quit such agood job and company!” Bharatbhai. toldhim. That conversation was re-enacted in theBollywood film ‘Guru’, supposedly, a biographyof Dhirubhai’s life. “Actually, we could notvisualize a diamond in the coal,” remarkedBharatbhai in hindsight.In December 1957, Dhirubhai left his securejob in Aden with wife Kokilaben, and eightmonthold Mukesh, to build their lives afresh ina young and free India.Those were exciting years in India.Jawaharlal Nehru had spelled out his dreamfor young India. There was the promise forhuge investments in industry with the firstfive-year plan listing the building of world-classinfrastructure and agricultural production as apriority-in all, a dream of a self-sufficient newworld, which signalled the end of two centuriesof suppression.Time proved that Dhirubhai was right inhis decision to return to India and Bharatbhaimistaken. Dhirubhai’s farsightedness in businessand his sixth sense had accurately visualized thefuture, setting up Reliance as India’s first privatesector company.One of Dhirubhai’s outstanding qualitieswas that he maintained relations withhis colleagues for lifetime. “That’swhy he appointed me as the Middle-East coordinator of Noto Relianceand agent for Vimal Fabrics in SaudiArabia. Dhirubhai took care of hiscolleagues till he died. An open offerwas floated by him for Indians fromAden. “Anybody from Aden wasguaranteed a job with Reliance. TheHR department could not say no to anIndian jobseeker from Aden. This onlywent on to show that Dhirubhai had amagnanimous heart,” says Bharatbhai.At work, he would always find timefor his visitors, particularly those whocame from Gujarat. When people said,“Oh, yes, I knew Dhirubhai well!” itwas not an idle boast. He did makepeople feel as if they had known him all theirlives. He lived like a commoner, he died like acommoner. Dhirubhai maintained his relationswith Bharatbhai till the last moments of hislife and till date, Bharatbhai and Induben’sconnections with Dhirubhai’s wife Kokilabenare intact.“Till 1977, we used to go to see Gujaratiplays together. Whenever I went there,Dhirubhai would ask about my choice of outingto which I would promptly reply, “I don’t wantto go to Hotel Taj or Hotel Oberoi, we shall seea Gujarati play together. All the people at the84The International Indian