FTF Mukesh Nita Ambani30 8 2003

[Music] he's the chairman of India's largest industrial house but his name is also a byword for excellence in business she's his wife but she's also his partner no wonder the Press simply can't stop talking about them but how do they meet and more importantly what are they like well today's your chance to find out as I introduce you to Nita and mesh Ambani welcome to the program thank you Karen let's start with your marriage the story says that in fact it all goes back to a dance concert in Bombay at a cultural show when a couple in the audience couldn't stop looking at you is that true yes it is Karen this goes back 19 years I used to take part in an annual navaratri dance ballet it was for the Gujarati community and I said we doing this since the time I was a little girl at that time I really did not know that somebody was watching me you had absolutely no idea absolutely no a couple of days later the phone rang and the gentleman who called identified himself and you thought it was a joke um this was in mid October I was busy studying for my exams and the phone rings I pick it up the caller identifies himself as Mr duai Amani I put it down knowing it's a crank call he calls again the phone rings I go and pick it up again he identifies himself as Mr derai Amani I tell him please stop this stop fooling and put down the phone I got a little agitated at that time the third time the phone rings I don't even bother to pick it up my father picks up of the phone and I was watching him and suddenly his expression changed he puts his hand in the speaker and says Nita it is really Mr duai Amani and can you please talk to him politely that's where it all began mes at the time did you have any idea that your parents had seen n and were interested in him no at that time like this was a typical duai he uh I was very busy like focusing on patal ganga and the carrier and yes they had my uh consent in terms of saying that yes if I believed in the arranged marriage and uh he said okay and uh the way he worked this out was he was independently talking to Nita independently talking to me and proving to both of us that it was in our individual interests that we did he really was playing Matchmaker in the real sense absolutely absolutely but you know most young people when they know that their parents are busy arranging their marriage are very nervous or at least apprehension were you nervous no I was not in fact I had uh said to my mother and uh Papa that you know uh it would be my decision but uh they can they can have the fun of like uh looking at all different familyes and all different prospective brides and the way it turned out naita was the first girl in that sense that I met and uh I didn't have to look for any other person but in fact there's more to this amazing story than just that because he invited you to his office and you agreed to go and I gather you still hadn't any idea what he had in mind um these were the days of 1984 for uh Mr duai Amani was a big Idol for everybody in college and when he invited me I said look I'm going to get a chance to meet Mr derai Amani that in itself was enough for you that was enough for me but you had no idea that he was thinking of you as a potential daughter-in-law uh I think must cross your mind yes it did cross my mind but I really just wanted to go and meet him at that time and what struck me Karan was his warmth and his Simplicity you know and uh the way he greeted me and an instant Rao build up between both of us he even I believe asked you almost immediately do you want to meet my son he didn't do that but he coaxed me very gently I must say did you need coaxing um at that time I did he invited n to dinner not much later and I gather you were the one who opened the door and I'm assume that's the first time you saw her yes that was the first time that I met Nita and uh like he had built my expectations and I had you know generally said that you know Papa like I understand what you're saying but uh ultimately it is I who am going to marry Nita and not you so when you opened the door that evening was your heart in your mouth so when I opened the door like you know Nita was like stunning but uh uh for me it was even beyond that I was wanting to make sure that uh our values matched I was wanting to make sure that we can we really think alike so that we can spend a lifetime together you said in your interviews that the one thing that struck you about Mukesh was his humility and his softspoken nature was he also a little shy um Mukesh takes a little bit longer to open up but um he's a very intense person and um those close to him he believes in longlasting relationships and he opens up to a very few people and that was an aspect of him that actually you found in Dearing that's right the courtship that followed meant that he came almost every day in a green fat but he was always late you say Yes um you know Mukesh those days business is a state of mind right yes it happens ongoing it's a story of aive but those days I think he was uh building our first polyester plant in patal ganga which is 3 hours away from the city of Mumbai so you had competition yes absolutely absolutely you know and many people told me look na you come only second it's patal ganga that's first for Mukesh true Nita says that every evening when you came in that famous green fat you would always take off a pow baji on the streets of Bombay why were you avoiding the good expensive restaurants frankly current like you know after uh 11:30 like the best food in Bombay is out on the street out on the street at 11:30 in the night or around midnight so like but I think that uh having grown up in Bombay I like we've really know all the little places and I wanted to have like you know to make sure that Nita and I have enough time together and uh you didn't want all the distractions of the attention of being seen in a big restaurant either combination I have taken a rout like many times to so she got a full variety of uh of everything from eating on the street so she knows the real me and going out wherever else I think the important thing for us was to spend the time like to get to know each other he was very Ardent in his woing wasn't he he sent you roses every single day he did every morning red roses always red always red are you a romantic or was that a strategic decision with Nita like everything is straight from the heart there is no strategy at all thank you now not much later I gather it was November 1984 he proposed but I'm also told that he did it very cleverly yes you know we were driving on peda road it it is one of the busiest roads in Mumbai and it's PE Time Track traffic 8:00 in the evening and suddenly he stops the car I wonder what's happening and he ask me will you marry me just like that just like that traffic whizzing by on either side it was uh no I thought I prepared you before that it was we had met um you know over a fortnite and um you know we used to like spending time with each other look forward to spending time with each other and um I looked at him and said maybe that's it uh wait so he says no tell me yes or no and right now by this time there was total chaos there were people shouting on the road there were cars honking but he just wouldn't move he said tell me yes or no right now say I'm a black or white guy black or white or a little bit of a black mail as well did you choose the moment instinctively or had you planned this no I I just thought that like you know this was it and uh like how many minutes passed before she said that critical word yes naita was like very spontaneous at least I thought it was very spontaneous time stopped at that that moment we really don't know if God forbid naita had said no would you still be stuck on prto road actually naita asked me this question like just two hours I say if I had said no what would you have done would you have asked me to walk out of the car at that time and I said no I would have asked you to walk out of the car I would have said yes I'm still too much of a gentleman to do that I would have dropped you to your home and I would have still been very good friends with you but you'd have gone home with a broken heart absolutely marriage made you anani daughter-in-law I imagine life changed pretty dramatically at that point um surprisingly no Karan you know the values of my family and muk's family were almost very similar it was a very closely Bond family Anil dipti Nina we used to have dinner time together a lot of uh happiness and a lot of caring and sharing so it really was quite smooth the transition and um I think I became more of a daughter uh than a daughter-in-law she told me feels like my house like you know this is like I in that sense I think that we still like live like an ordinary family contrary to all external like perceptions the pivot of the family of course was the man who was Matchmaker AB duai you used to spend 7:30 in the evening every day with him didn't you oh papa was quite a task master I must say 7:30 in the evening was half an hour with him alone and he used to quiz me Karan on different questions um share market Reliance politics world affairs International Affairs and every time I was forced to read up and I would prepare myself for the next day I would get a phone call saying what is Papa going to ask me today so I said yeah maybe this this and this and like at 8:00 we used to always have fun after that go but the next day the questions would be entirely different and would have me totally stumped and um I think those were my growing up years really with wonderful memories of Papa so a lot of the N sitting in front of me is actually his creation yes let's take a break at that point I want to come back in part two and talk not about how the two of you met but about your life together and those values that are so important to you which you share we'll be back in a moment's time see you then [Music] welcome back my guests Anita and mes Amani let's talk a little about each of you I gather you come from a very traditional joint Gujarati family and when everyone's together there as many is 26 at the dinner table and 11 cousins 37 and old what of childhood was it wonderful beautiful very very very close bonds very happy Carefree a lot of caring and a lot of sharing you often talk about your maternal grandmother subadra you describe her as the pillar of the family she was the most beautiful lady that I remember tall elegant very warm and compassionate she held all of us together imagine 37 of us living Under One Roof and I still kind of remember her with very fond memories in contrast you grew up amidst affluence were you spoiled as a child no I don't think so not even a Teensy wsy bit no I I really think that uh you know for us uh all four of us myself Anil dipti Nina we were very Clos nit uh family and uh in those years right uh Papa like spent an awful amount of time with us while like the business was being and these are the most difficult years of growing a business from Scrat so he always found time for his children it was every Sunday that uh was uh 100% devoted to us every uh evening in fact we had uh lot of time uh from him and was he indulgent or was he a disciplinarian I think he was uh neither what he did is brought the best out of all four of us and uh you know he was not the typical disciplinarian or like he would not spoil like except my youngest sister Nina but that also within limits he always focused in terms of bringing the best out of you giving you the space giving you the encouragement and always like his General View and one of my take homes was that never have an inferiority complex never like think that you know you cannot do it uh he would encourage us he would really like stretch the envelope and uh I think that uh for each one of us in the family and me particularly like that uh whole relationship uh like is something that is a lesson on a lifelong basis Nita you started working shortly after you got married your first job was for 800 rupees a month in a local Nursery was that because you were determined to be more than just mesha's wife not really Karan I always had this passion for teaching education children and uh mukes and to me to be my own person and um I just followed my own Pursuits and I enjoyed it I went and applied for this job and when I got it I asked mesh is it all right if I work and he said go ahead in fact there was a lovely occasion when one of the parents at the school in gratitude gave you passes to the Reliance Cup finals this is really something quite funny Karan you know one of the parents offered me two free tickets of the Reliance uh World Cup 1987 1987 cricket matches and they had no idea who you were no I was working as a teacher and I was that tri's teacher in school and um he said you can go and see this with your husband or whoever these are two tickets that um I'm giving you for the World Cup I declined the next day I was at the stadium watching the match and he met me and I was sitting in the president's box what did he say he says what are you doing here I didn't answer for a moment and then someone came by and introduced me to him and said this is Nita mukesh's wife and you should have seen his face M since then of course Nita's gone on to play much more important and significant role in Reliance projects particularly knowledge city and the tuu bani school but she always says it was a casual challenge that you threw in her direction that sparked it off yes uh after our children were born like uh naita was always like very very passionate about education but then she gave up like everything and focused only on the children I think that uh really in the uh around the time we were building Jam nagar that was mid99s like the children were now like well settled and uh I like challenged her in that sense in terms of saying let's see like all your talents and you like we were I was very passionate about building jam nagar and the challenge really was not only to bring out her best she's very good in architecture in uh really education and health we're building all kinds of infrastructure there but I think for us the most important thing was to build a new business and uh to bring 3,000 families into Jam nagar from literally all over the world this was something you thought she could do for absolutely and we really needed to weave the aspirations of people the people like to our goal and make sure that we really have a worldclass Refinery business and uh I think that you know uh she initially was saying you know what will I do what can I do but once she got on with it I think she did very well and I can see that she's delighted to hear you praising her has becoming his partner as well as his wife made the bond between you closer I definitely think so you don't have business quarrels at night though no we have discussions you know last year you lost your father you worked for years un him but has it been difficult to then step into issues well for me and for all of us at the family like we feel his uh virtual presence and uh uh for him business and Reliance was his entire life right and that's what he is it your entire life today yes today like uh for me continuing that Legacy uh making sure that uh whatever he spent his life on is institutionalized that's your commitment is my commitment to him my commitment to Reliance and all our people in term and it's very difficult for companies to go beyond individuals there are very few companies in the world that have lasted centuries and I think that's a commitment I have made to him to myself and to everybody at Alliance Nita today as an Amani you're amongst one of the richest people in the country what does money mean to you you know often um I have been asked or been told that you know you have you're probably one of the richest in India and things but I think M both mukes and myself feel that money nor wealth is an end to itself it's how you use your wealth that is more important and uh I tell Mukesh all the time that life is not about making money or making wealth life is actually about making memories because that's all that you leave behind does he have the time for that because he has such an obvious commitment to what his father did um he is now consciously trying to spend a lot of time with me and the kids he's being a better father day by day he's been a good father now he's trying to be a better father thanks for the Certification need I think this whole business current of making memories you know it's it's such a simple statement but I think it's profound in uh saying that and particularly now after Papa like the only thing that we have of him are his memories and they are very dear to us and I think that it like naita used to always say this that you know every moment is important and that's what life is all about and I think it makes I understand what she's saying n mes a pleasure having the two of you on the program thank you thank you [Music] he

Channel: itvindia

Views: 2,085,394

Keywords: FTF, Mukesh, Nita, Ambani30, 8, 2003

Id: DT5FnnVTG7k

Length: 23min 31sec (1411 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 10 2012