I gave my kids Rs 5 as pocket money: Nita Ambani
Life runs in bullet points for Nita Ambani. Her kids' homework, the kitchen menu, her brainchild, the Dhirubhai Ambani International School 's schedule, her IPL cricket team's agenda, our interview...
India's most moneyed woman sets out her day in meticulously- scribbled bullet points. Befittingly, at the start of our interview, as I fish out my dictaphone, she unravels a sheet of paper where she's jotted down some salient topics for our chat. It's official, I'm facing a woman who fate may have bestowed with the Ambani surname, but in her heart, she stays what she always wanted to be: a teacher.
Which, by the way, is her rejoinder to my very first question. Did the desire to be more than the Ambani bahu spur her to take up so much; was that her way of being powerful on her own steam? "To me, power is the greatest enabler, a catalyst for change. And education is the biggest tool to bring about any change. Which is why I like to be involved in moulding the thoughts of the next generation through my school and other academic initiatives."
What about money, does that help in buying power ? "Wealth and power don't go together. Power cannot be brokered . To me, power is responsibility. And I derive it from my family,my work,my passion and my very middle-class values."
Wearing a pretty fuchsia shift dress in her overwhelmingly resplendent residence, Nita Ambani may look like a million bucks, but her belief system is very real. She calls it middle-class. "While growing up, I lived in a traditional joint family in Mumbai's suburbs. We were two sisters and 10 other cousins- that's 11 girls and just one male cousin in one house. Girls in our family were given equal freedom. My parents told me that I could do what I wanted, but it came with a rider: do your best in whatever you choose. Besides academics, I used to be good at swimming and dancing, but the desire to excel in one extra-curricular activity had me quit swimming to focus on Bharatanatyam."
And Bharatanatyam it was that got her first noticed by Dhirubhai, her visionary father- in-law, at a dance performance. What followed was a meeting with his son Mukesh and a whirlwind courtship.Yet again, it was her middle-class values that saw her say yes to Mukesh within a few months of dating. "My mum was a disciplinarian and we were barely allowed to go out - just four times in a year - and there was no pocket money given. Not to mention my curfew, which was midnight.
As Mukesh worked late nights, he could only come across to see me by 11 pm to Santacruz, where I stayed. Just an hour later, we had to toe the curfew. So he said, 'Let's get engaged.' We did. That, of course, did not sort out the curfew issue, so we decided to do away with the deadline totally and take the plunge." Not that marriage stopped Nita from doing what she wanted. "When Mukesh and I were seeing each other, he would pick me up in his Merc. One day, I asked him to see my mode of travel and we took a BEST bus. I'm glad that my kids have also used public transport for their college trips. Life is about being aware of things around."
India's most moneyed woman sets out her day in meticulously- scribbled bullet points. Befittingly, at the start of our interview, as I fish out my dictaphone, she unravels a sheet of paper where she's jotted down some salient topics for our chat. It's official, I'm facing a woman who fate may have bestowed with the Ambani surname, but in her heart, she stays what she always wanted to be: a teacher.
Which, by the way, is her rejoinder to my very first question. Did the desire to be more than the Ambani bahu spur her to take up so much; was that her way of being powerful on her own steam? "To me, power is the greatest enabler, a catalyst for change. And education is the biggest tool to bring about any change. Which is why I like to be involved in moulding the thoughts of the next generation through my school and other academic initiatives."
What about money, does that help in buying power ? "Wealth and power don't go together. Power cannot be brokered . To me, power is responsibility. And I derive it from my family,my work,my passion and my very middle-class values."
Wearing a pretty fuchsia shift dress in her overwhelmingly resplendent residence, Nita Ambani may look like a million bucks, but her belief system is very real. She calls it middle-class. "While growing up, I lived in a traditional joint family in Mumbai's suburbs. We were two sisters and 10 other cousins- that's 11 girls and just one male cousin in one house. Girls in our family were given equal freedom. My parents told me that I could do what I wanted, but it came with a rider: do your best in whatever you choose. Besides academics, I used to be good at swimming and dancing, but the desire to excel in one extra-curricular activity had me quit swimming to focus on Bharatanatyam."
And Bharatanatyam it was that got her first noticed by Dhirubhai, her visionary father- in-law, at a dance performance. What followed was a meeting with his son Mukesh and a whirlwind courtship.Yet again, it was her middle-class values that saw her say yes to Mukesh within a few months of dating. "My mum was a disciplinarian and we were barely allowed to go out - just four times in a year - and there was no pocket money given. Not to mention my curfew, which was midnight.
As Mukesh worked late nights, he could only come across to see me by 11 pm to Santacruz, where I stayed. Just an hour later, we had to toe the curfew. So he said, 'Let's get engaged.' We did. That, of course, did not sort out the curfew issue, so we decided to do away with the deadline totally and take the plunge." Not that marriage stopped Nita from doing what she wanted. "When Mukesh and I were seeing each other, he would pick me up in his Merc. One day, I asked him to see my mode of travel and we took a BEST bus. I'm glad that my kids have also used public transport for their college trips. Life is about being aware of things around."
Comments
Post a Comment