Nita Mukesh Ambani: The Power Of Purpose

Her day has got to be more than just 24 hours, going by all that Nita Mukesh Ambani fi ts into her daily schedule. From education to health to sports and even revival of arts, she has helped grow the Ambani name beyond pure-play commerce. The first lady of Indian business gives Tanya Chaitanya an insight into what drives her to do more, be more.

- Tanya Chaitanya

Chances are, you saw her dancing with abandon on the road leading to Mumbai’s Chowpatty area even as the city soaked in the spirit of Ganpati celebrations. Or you read about her at an Uttarakhand relief camp, interacting with children whose schools were devastated by the Himalayan floods. Or you stepped into a sleepy Rajasthani village, Nathdwara, only to find it working overtime to finish a huge order of Pichhwai paintings commissioned by her for the revival of the dying art form. And even if you missed all of that, you certainly saw her on TV as the boss lady during a Mumbai Indians knock-out performance in IPL.

Nita Mukesh Ambani is a powerful name, the lady who comes from India’s first business family yet her persona reminds me of an oft-quoted line: ‘Because I have this crazy idea that my purpose is bigger than me.’

Dressed in a sedate azalea pink salwar kameez, she ushers me into a well-appointed conference room. It’s a coincidence that we meet on September 5, or what those who schooled in India identify as Teachers’ Day. Nita had started out as an academic and even today, her involvement in the schools she runs is complete. She has 14 schools in India and her quick repartee to that is: “Wherever Mukesh sets up a plant, I start a school.” But it’s not just education that is at the top of her mind this evening.

She has just returned from Delhi after receiving the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar from the President of India, on behalf of Reliance Foundation, and she beams on being congratulated. Our freewheeling conversation takes off.

The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar may not come as a surprise to you today. But for somebody who was a spectator on the sides when IPL was launched, your total and full involvement in cricket is quite a leap. How has the journey been?