Our country has produced some of the outstanding citizens who have been achievers in their own fields and have contributed immensely for the country. Many have devoted their life for the freedom struggle; some managed to find success in sports and have brought pride and glory for our country and its people. In the field of entertainment, our film industry is now recognized globally because of the talent and hard work of the people related to it over a period of time. But my choice of an Incredible Indian is from the field of business. I think that this is one field whose contribution has always remained understated as people perceive businessman in a different way. People always perceive that successful businessmen have less to do with a country’s development and more to do with making money. Moreover, most of the people are often unaware of the multiplier effect which a business empire can bring to an economy.
“Think Big, Think Fast And Think Ahead.
Ideas are no one’s monopoly”.
The above lines said by Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani say a lot about his personality. On 28th December 1932 a child was born at Kukaswada near Chorwad, Junagadh (now the state of Gujarat, India) as the second son of a school teacher with modest means. Inspite of being born in a modest family the boy was far ahead in his thinking and was very keen to make it big in life. His rebellious nature of challenging the accepted, ability to dream big and a huge appetite to take risks weren’t appreciated by his conservative father. There are many young men out there who face the same problem when they want to do something more meaningful in life and most of the time they have to surrender to their family and relatives pressure. This boy was different as he was loaded with confidence and wasn’t the kind who would give up easily. Right from the childhood he showed his knack for entrepreneurship by undertaking small business activities and making money out of them.
When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300. Two years later, A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products, and Dhirubhai was promoted to manage the company’s filling station at the port of Aden. Satisfaction word did not exist in his dictionary as he always wanted to move to the next level. Apart from that, there was an inner drive and a huge ambition to make it big in the world of business. As a petrol pump attendant he used to bet in the commodity market and make some extra money. This shows that he was a known risk-taker. He was street smart and was gifted with an innate wisdom. During one incidence, he found out that the intrinsic value of the silver is more than the face value of the coins being circulated by the government in Yemen. He immediately started accumulating those coins and got them melted and sold the metal in the bullion markets. This shows how shrewd he was as a person.
What was most admiring about him was his belief in the power of dreams and the magic of thinking big. He remained an advocate of this power all through his life. How many petrol pump attendants can dream of creating an oil and gas empire? This message is very appropriate for the people in a developing country like India. People should get out of their comfort zones and should push themselves harder in order to achieve more. This is the way societies have progressed in the west. He was very candid and was always open to ideas and suggestions. He was also a very helpful person and followed an ‘open-door’ policy. Employees could walk into his cabin and discuss their problems with him. His people skills were legendary. He had a special way of dealing with different groups of people, be they employees, shareholders, journalists or government officials. Success in life is not related to formal education and fat degrees alone. He did not study after matriculation yet he achieved so much success. This is because he learnt from his experiences in life and made sure this is passed on to his next generation also.
Indian has achieved a lot from his contributions and achievements. Today, Reliance is the largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune 500 company. Look at the amount of wealth which the Reliance Group (ADAG included) has created for the country. Look at the amount of employment opportunities (direct as well as indirect) which the Reliance Group has created for our countrymen. Look at the small and medium businesses which are directly or indirectly related to the Reliance Group for their livelihood. If today, Reliance decides to go for a new project than look at the amount of business opportunities and demand that single project will create for other goods and services. This is the way wealth trickles down in an economy because of the multiplier effect. If Dhirubhai made money he also created opportunities for thousand others to grow along with him. Look at the amount of returns Reliance Group has consistently given to its shareholders. In fact, the whole idea of creating value for shareholders was pioneered by Dhirubhai Ambani in the Indian stock markets. That’s why he is known as the father of ‘The Indian Stock Market’. There are many families in our country (particularly in Gujarat) that made enough money just by investing in Reliance shares to get their daughters married and buy houses for themselves. This is the reason why Reliance is favourite scrip among most of the investors today. Dhirubhai has created an institution which has outlived him and will remain so for years to come. It was the conviction of Dhirubhai which has led to Reliance discovering huge gas deposits in the K-G Basin which will satisfy a lot of energy needs of our country. It would save around $20 Billion of the foreign exchange outflow from our country annually. Both his sons Mukesh and Anil have grown their businesses manifold and are carrying his legacy forward to the best of their abilities. Today, Reliance is a force to reckon with not only in our country but on a global scale. It has been only possible because Dhirubhai always use to benchmark his company with the global standards.
He was a person with a lot of compassion for the society. He was involved in a lot of philanthropic activities without being boastful about it. Unlike, other businessmen he did not believe in creating news about his charity work. These are the traits which makes him truly great. Lot of people achieve success in life but very few of them can carry it off with humility. It is extremely difficult to achieve so much in life and still be connected to your roots and remain humble.
A person may argue that he was involved in a lot of unethical business practices. I have a different take on that. He was an opportunist and he made sure that he exploited every loophole to his advantage. Even Lord Krishna has done the same thing in order to win the battle of Mahabharata for the Pandavas. During his time, it was so difficult to do business in India, yet he converted adversities into opportunities. Now, that is the quality one attaches to an optimist. He was a leader who had this unique ability to inspire people around him so that they move forward with a lot of zeal and positive energy. A leader can make the people around him aware about the things which they haven’t thought about themselves. The gleam and passion in his eyes and body language use to have a magnetic effect on people around him.
I feel he is one of the greatest entrepreneurs which this world has ever seen and the various awards and recognitions at the global level is a proof of that. Even if our country has 10 such Dhirubhais we could grow at a much faster rate and achieve our goal of a developed nation at a much quicker pace. Dhirubhai Ambani seems destined to be remembered as a folk hero—an example of what a man from one of India’s poor villages can accomplish with non-shrink ambition.
“Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambitions higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India.” – Dhirubhai Hirachand Ambani
This post appeared in the blogsite strat.in and has been voted as one of the best blog entries in the Incredible Indians contest.
Know more by visiting : http://strat.in/incredible-indians-contest/
This post has been written by Saurav Jalan, presently, a second year MBA student of PraxisBusiness School, Kolkata. He has done initial schooling from a boarding school named Birla Public School, Pilani(Rajasthan), followed by intermediate(10+2) from DPS Mathura Road, New Delhi. He has done graduation in commerce stream from Delhi University, and has a small family of four members.
He loves reading travelling, sports(particularly, football), making friends,watching movies and listening to rock music. Long-term goal in life is to take the path of entrepreneurship and create something on my own. Some of the inspirations from the field of business are Dhirubhai Ambani, L.N. Mittal, Ratan Tata,Jack Welch and Steve Jobs.
Visit Saurav at: http://yantrajaal.ning.com/profile/SauravJalan
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