Ambani quarrel?more to it than meets the eye?

The Reliance boys are at it again. The bully is busy showing muscle and pushing his brother to the point where forceful retaliation will be inevitable for survival. As an observer, one gets the impression that the onslaught is brazen and cocky only because one of them feels he has the silent support of the political powers that be. The strut and attitude is one that signals superficial confidence.

The problem with owners making corporate and financial issues ?political? is that when the wheel turns and political fortunes turn alongside, not only does the owner suffer and fall from grace, but so does the business, along with the shareholders. It is quite unpleasant to witness new-generation owners and entrepreneurs, who have inherited large empires, operate in the manner and style of the past, when the command economy held sway and suffocated all enterprise. Today, there is no excuse for such unseemly and high-handed behaviour. Bad practices must be discouraged and companies rebuked by the government for indulging in these.

This constant hanging about with government, smiling on rostrums with ministers, pretending to be their close and familiar friends, bowing and scraping in front of bureaucrats and politicians?all of it comes across as undignified and wholly unnecessary. Everyone knows who is who?s Man Friday, who manipulates what for whom, who speaks on whose behalf. In the Capital, these truths are well-known. There are no secrets. Everyone tells on everyone and no one can be trusted. Such real and tactile news and information is revealed and exposed via an ancient method of communication, the oral tradition of old civilisations that was in practice well before the written word came to be!

On the surface, that which meets the eye seems simple enough to sort out and regularise. Therefore, what is the legitimate problem between Dhirubhai Ambani?s two sons? Is there something that is unknown to us in the public domain? Is there some other bone of contention that has not been unveiled to those of us who are witnessing this battle through the pages of the media? Are there other issues that need to be addressed and solved? Where is the government of India in all of this, and where are the true investigative journalists? What are the many linkages and who are the range of players? Who is being targeted and why? Where are the institutional arbiters?

Sadly, all the ingredients come across the footlights like a sordid drama with a never-ending first act where the players are, in fact, both the puppets and those pulling the strings, all at the same time. It is unfathomable at one level and obvious at another?both the political shenanigans and family games that are being played out. The one thing that bullies tend to forget when they are riding high is that as political combinations change, today?s bullies become tomorrow?s underdogs. Then what? Revenge? Surely, that is not what good practice in business is all about. Surely, that is not what is taught at business and management schools.

Bullies manage short-term success! Those who crave for some upbeat and overarching ?recognition,? who make sure they appear regularly in the press on official government platforms, who manipulate and strategise to spread negativity as they assault their partners and siblings, who are unable to adjust to changing realities on the ground, lose out in the long run. The dignified and quiet practise good business with integrity, devoid of support from political ?godfathers.? And stay the course, if well managed.

When partisan positions are taken by the ?ruling class? in favour of one against the other in a family spoils battle, particularly in circa 2006, it is unacceptable. For, it reduces the politicians and administrators of our nation to sub-standard levels in the eyes of the public at large, the constituents of this republic.

But, despite all this and much more, the markets continue to boom with the energy of an India that grows and blossoms, in spite of all the horrors meted to it by the privileged.