The much-publicized Reliance board meet on December 27, 2004, was aimed to divert attention from the real issues confronting the company. Instead of conducting an exercise to show how much support Mukesh Ambani has (on the veiled premise of a share buyback), the board should have confronted the reality head on.

The much awaited (and publicized) board meeting is over. The only losers as of now are the younger Ambani and, of course, the large number of Reliance shareholders. What else could you expect in a country like ours, where people tout about substance than form in corporate governance, but when it comes to reality, act as if they have never come across a word like that?

Reliance Industries is a great company; it was definitely the epitome of entrepreneurship in a country that was mired by controls rather than empowerment. And, Dhirubhai was our answer to Paul Getty or Rockefeller. With no formal background in entrepreneurship or industry, Dhirubhai showed all Indians that anybody could make it big even in India, if they really put their heart and head behind it.

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