Mr Anil Ambani still had plenty of adrenaline flowing in him to take on journalists after crossing the finish line at the Mumbai Marathon.

At his humorous best, he took quite a few pot-shots at newspersons, whom he first thanked for accepting his invitation and making it to the meeting despite it being a Sunday.

However, he was quick to add that he could not assure them there would not be a repetition in the days to come.

Kick-starting his presentation, he said those who had run the marathon would be given priority in the question-and-answer session and called for a show of hands. Not a person raised his hand. Brushing aside his disappointment, Mr Ambani said he would throw open the floor for all. Done with his presentation, he warmed up to the volley of queries pitched at him one after the other. The pertinent questions were answered in all seriousness. For the lackadaisical ones, his flamboyant sense of humour and amusement took over.

For those repetitive in nature, he said he was reminded of the snake-and-ladder game he played while at school, when from 99 one slid down right below to the beginning. Then, of course, for the ones who were asking the same questions, he said their questions were akin to asking who was Ram, after having heard the Ramayan .

To a correspondent of a vernacular channel, who requested him to answer in Hindi, he said a long interaction could be arranged and he would give him numerous bytes, one after the other. To queries on the SEBI's consent order, Mr Ambani said he would prefer to screen the disclaimer again for the benefit of easy understanding.

For some television channels which had sent more than a couple of reporters, he said they have had their fill and it was time to give others an opportunity and went on to name them — there were quite a number of them.

To a persistent query from a vernacular channel relating to his ability to access the secondary market, he said he did not know whether the channel was listed and all he could tell the reporter was that he did not hold any of the channel's shares.

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