Dhirubhai Ambani's family re-joined with dandiya

JUNAGADH: The Ambanis resembled every other happy family a day before patriarch Dhirubhai Ambani's 80th birth anniversary, as they congregated at his birthplace and appeared at ease, eating and praying together, and in a scene unimaginable not so long ago, even dancing with each other at the local temple.

After prayers at the local Chorwadi Bhawani temple, Mukesh and Anil joined their wives, mother Kokilaben, sister Nina, their children and other family members, all beaming and dressed up, to dance to the beats of Gujarati dance forms dandiya and sanedo.
The spirited dandiya between Nita Ambani and Tina Ambani, the general bonhomie, Anil's vigorous steps, Mukesh's characteristically shy but happy dandiya steps, the happy vibes between the generations, all seemed too true to be forced. The divided Ambani family doesn't appear so divided anymore.

The images of the estranged brothers talking to each other, their wives dancing and families mingling will reinforce perceptions that the two, prodded by their mother, have put a line under one of India's most high-profile sibling rivalries and set the stage for greater cooperation.
ANIL GROUP SHARES REFLECT MOOD

Shares in some Anil Ambani group companies reflected that optimism, rising in a weak market. Flagship Reliance Communications ended 5% higher while Reliance Media Works closed 3% up. The stage for the tectonic shift in perceptions about India's first business family was set by matriarch Kokilaben's dramatic intervention on Monday with her declaration "There is love between the brothers... We are all united".

As markets and business pundits parsed her comments, the entire Ambani family reached Chorwad, a small coastal village 420 kilometres from Ahmedabad, and immersed itself in a series of mostly closeddoor family engagements. The family is here to celebrate Dhirubhai Ambani's birthday on Wednesday, and inaugurate a memorial built for him at the housing compound where he was born in 1932.

He built Reliance Industries into India's most valuable private company during his lifetime. The bonhomie that was on display on Tuesday night appears to have been the fruit of years of struggle by Kokilaben to keep her family together. Mukesh and Anil were consumed by a bitter and longstanding rivalry not so long ago, and were known for the extent to which the billionaires would go to avoid running into each other.

Their mother has been working hard behind the scenes to end the acrimony and bring the brothers closer. One of her initiatives has been to ask her sons to have lunch with her at home every Sunday. Kokilaben confirmed to ET on Monday that the brothers have been lunching with her for weeks now.