Billionaire Ambani brothers today appeared to signal that their bitter rivalry may end as they prayed, danced and ate together at a two-day family reunion to mark the 80th birth anniversary of their father Dhirubhai at this small Gujarati village.
The entire Ambani family, including Mukesh and Anil, has been here together for the last two days to inaugurate a memorial for Dhirubhai Ambani, the legendary industrialist and founder of the Reliance Group.
The Chorwad house where Dhirubhai lived before leaving for Eden (now Yemen), has been transformed into a memorial, which was inaugurated by the Ambanis' family guru Ramesh Oza (Bhaiji) in the presence of Kokilaben Ambani, her two sons and two daughters and other family members.
A few years after Dhirubhai's death in July 2002, the two brothers had parted ways and formally split the business empire in 2006 after months of bitter rivalry and public spat. After the split, Mukesh took control of flagship Reliance Industries with interests in mostly energy and textiles businesses, while the younger sibling Anil got telecom, power, entertainment and financial services among others. The family reunion in Chorwad, in Junagarh district of Gujarat, took place after more than a year after the two brothers agreed in May 2010 to end their disputes and work together for an environment of harmony, cooperation and collaboration between their groups.
Soon after arriving here on December 26, family matriarch Kokilaben had said that the two brothers had no differences between them and they are together now.
The family had last time congregated in Chorwad about 15 years ago in 1996, when a grand feast was organised for the villagers in the presence of Dhirubhai.