Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani was born on 28 December 1932 at Kukaswada near Chorwad, Jamnagar (now the state of Gujarat, India) to Hirachand Gordhandhas Ambani and Jamnaben[1] in a Modh family of modest means(Incidentally,The Gandhis and Ambanis came from the same gothra,the trading community of Modh baniyas [2]). Hirachand Govardhandhas Ambani earned little as a village school teacher.But his wife,Jamanaben knew how to stretch every paisa in a long way.Hirachand and Jamanaben had two daughters - Trilochanaben and Jasuben and three sons - Ramnikbhai,Dhirubhai and Natubhai.Dhirubhai was extremely demanding,robust of health and difficult to placate from his very babyhood days.

As a boy,he possessed immense gusto and enormous energy and was determined to do what he wanted to do in exactly the way he wanted it done.

[edit] School life
Dhirubhai was precocious and highly intelligent and also as highly impatient of the oppressive grinding mill of the school classroom.He chose works which uses his physical ability to the maximum rather than mugging up school lessons. When Jamnaben once asked Dhirubhai and Ramnikbhai to help his father by earning money,He angrily replied "Why do you keep screaming for money? I will make heaps of money one day".During weekends,he began setting up onion/potato fries stall at village fairs and made extra money which he gave to his mother.

When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300. Two years later, A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products, and Dhirubhai was promoted to manage the company’s filling station at the port of Aden.

He was married to Kokilaben and had 2 sons, Mukesh,Anil and two daughters, Nina Kothari,Deepti Salgaocar