Sunday, December 05, 2004

Ye tho hona hi tha

when it exploded,it wasn't really much of a surprise.the stock market was expecting it,the rumour mongerers were working overtime spreading all the juicy happenings in 'sea wind',the popular magazines were writing reels of stories on the brothers and bahus,there were whispered discussons in the corridors of the corporate world as to when it was going to happen.and then finally muks broke the news."ownership isues;but then they are in the private domain".

ril and rel prices took a beating though the nifty and sensex were continuing to move north.political leaders,godmen,et al jumped into the fray.there was lot of drama.six directors of rel resigned presumably under pressure from muks' camp.kokilaben intervened but to no avail.she even gave an ultimatum to the warring siblings,but then the deadline passed away.she sought the help of 'morari bapu',famous for his narration of kathas.anil and tina shot off to tirupathi to seek balaji's blessings for peace and tranquility in the extended ambani family.and also to nathdwara.but then there were talks that they were trying to save their marriage.

sushmita sen was rumoured to be the third person,though she vehemently denied.they were seen together in switzerland in the same hotel and it was said that tina was going to have no more of it.figures started flying around.some said she wanted 600 crores for a settlement;the last sum i heard was 1000 crores.

chorwad,where dhirubhai was born was full of activity.prayers galore.letters to kokilaben to pray to keep the family together.appeals to the brothers to stay like ram and lakshman and not fight like the pandavas.

i think long days and long nights are there ahead.though anil has strategically backed off in the latest rel board meeting by agreeing to seek approval of the ril board on major investments,it appears to be a lull before the storm.mukesh doesn't like anil's ways.excessive partying,hobnobbing with celebreties from the tinsel world,getting closer to the samajwadi party and the likes of amar singh,amitabh bachan and mulayam singh yadav.and finally the rajya sabha nomination by samajwadi party.

anil knows he is getting marginalised.mukesh wants a big slice of the cake and is not satisfied with equality.it is anil's response to mukesh's movements.to create his own political base to fight the war.it is said that dhirubhai died intestate.that is without a will.which means that his share will get divided by 5. 2 sons,2 daughters and kokilaben.mukesh wants to prevent all that and grab most of the whole and leave a part.he is prepared to give away rel to anil and cash alongwith it.anil may settle for this ultimately.he his already having nightmares of having to deal with nita on the board of ril if that should happen.

the days of bhai-bhai are over.it is now bye-bye.

2 comments:

rums said...

uncle, your title is so true. in fact the split happened when the father was alive but apparently, anil's decision to invest some obscene amounts of money in UP really got muk's goat. and i don't blame him, anil should get his act together. openly hobnobbing with criminals is not good for any company's image. Earlier reliance's underhand dealings didn't get much space, both due to fear and also because of lack of general transparency in the system. today reliance is operating in a very different scenario and has a lot at stake through its telecom business. any negativity will at some point reflect on its brand image. already, reliance infocom has been asked to pay up 180 crore for cheating on ILD calls. the general belief is that the infocom fiasco blew up due to anil's closeness to those two criminals of the samajwadi party.
if muk's trying to wrest control of the whole group, i think it's to save the group from anil's stupidity. even though anil doesn't really want complete control, i'm told he wants to remain no2 to muk which muk is not comfortable with and wants his wife to be no2. that is where anil's feeling let down.
BTW, did you read the Time magazine cover on India this week? it's shameful how a seasoned journo like Alex Perry has gone ga ga over the biggest crook this country has, Subroto Roy of the sahara group. i couldn't believe that perry didn't do any homework on that group!
on the other hand, the theme of the story is really good. in fact, i used the same theme while contributing to a friend's book early this year. as you can imagine, i'm feeling mighty proud of myself! ;)

gs said...

yes rums,even during dhirubhai's lifetime it was brewing.for about three years when i was working in goa,i was very close to deepti and raj salgaonkar.i was privy to some inside goings-on.

anil accepts muks leadership though he thinks that as joint md he can do what he wants.i think really he has dared muks to come and fight in the open to resolve the various issues.muks has accepted this invite.
anil has committed numerous indiscretions.both as joint md and in private.he is certainly keeping bad company.there was no need for him to identify himself so closely with ms yadav.my views on sahara are similar to yours.subroto is a bad fella.amar singh is a harmful influence.anil should not be touching them with a bargepole.there is an apt sanskrit saying:"vinaasha kale vipareetha buddhi".

looking at it from anil's angle,he is being sidelined.and muks is totally in control.he has even gone and met sonia.anil seems to be receiving the sympathy of the other siblings and kokilaben as they feel that they too would be thrown soon into the same boat.muks has to be careful.he has the moral right to the throne.but he should not go overboard.
gs