December 28th is an important date for Reliance as it is for India Inc. It marks the birth of one of India’s greatest business leaders, visionaries, opportunist and an entrepreneur – Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani. In fact, this data is very lucky for India from an economic point-of-view as 2 of the country’s greatest industry leaders were born on this day. Dhirubhai shares his birthday with Ratan Tata, out-going chairman of the Tata group. Ambani was born on December 28, 1932 in this sleepy town near the southwest coast of Gujarat’s Kathiawar peninsula. Today, on his 80th birth anniversary, the Ambani family came together to unveil a memorial at his hometown Chorwad in Gujarat to mark the life and journey of its patriarch and one of India’s most idolized business leaders. The celebrations in Chorwad were marked by the congregation of the entire Ambani family, who came together in much fan fare to celebrate and commemorate the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.
Nearly 150 people associated with the family and Reliance, were present at the inaugural ceremony for the memorial. The memorial is instituted in the house where Dhirubhai Ambani grew up during his early years before moving to Aden in Yemen to work at an oil company. It houses a photo gallery with archive photographs of the Ambani family and Dhirubhai Ambani’s life journey. The original structure of the house has been kept the same while some portion is being converted into a museum of sorts. This memorial with the museum will be thrown open to the public within the next few weeks.
Dhirubhai Ambani -the founder of Reliance – pioneered India’s biggest and most renowned private sector company for nearly four decades. From what could be seen as a modest start as a small time trader to instituting one of the most revered companies in the Indian business quarter, Dhirubhai’s life journey is that of determination, hard work and succeeding against all odds. His aspirations were prophetic and endeavors far-reaching. He is credited with having rolled out a business template that companies today follow in an effort to soar towards the skies. This profit model has been conceived by the man behind Reliance himself. His contribution in wealth creation for the country has been enormous Dhirubhai’s legacy is one which far outreaches the boundaries of this country, one which continues to linger in every aspect of Reliance industries and its people.