India should have a 1000 Dhirubhai Ambanis.

Aug 09 2014 : The Times of India (Chennai)





Tina Ambani, 55, may be the wife of one of the world's richest men, but she gets her happiness not from an expensive gift but from being real and giving to society . She is a woman with passion, who loves life and is extremely real.
She built the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital as one of the finest medical facilities in India in 2009, as her need to give back to society and as a tribute to her mother-in-law, who she considers her strength. Excerpts from our conversation: What makes Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital partner with The Times of India for the Organ Donation Day?
Despite India being the second most populous country in the world, it has a very low donation rate of only 0.26 donors per million people compared to the US at 26, Spain at 35 and Croatia, the world leader, at 36.5. It's not just because of apathy . There are religious misgivings, a lack of awareness and fear, trepidation about lack of reliable medical infrastructure. There is also the issue of acceptance. It is understandably hard for family members to accept that a brain-dead person is gone.
Many people have misgivings about donating a loved one's organs; there are also superstitions at play. And the only answer is to build awareness.
Most major religions support organ donation, seeing it as an act of goodwill. Sharing of information can help dispel myths. The fact is organ donation can comfort and heal grieving families; it gives them comfort from the fact that their loss may help to save or improve the lives of others. Donating organs is giving a part of you that will save a life. Every organ wasted is a potential life lost. The Times of India and Kokilaben Hospital are two trailblazing institutions working for a common cause dear to us. I believe our expertise and facilities and TOI's reach make a potent force to spread awareness. Such a campaign will play a significant role because of the credibility and commitment of both organisations and will bring the subject of organ donation from the fringes to centre stage. I feel the decision to donate organs is a very personal decision. I have pledged my organs and believe that awareness will lead to more and more people wanting to do it. I feel so blessed and feel that I have amazing karmas to be able to share what I have today . To be able to put up an institution like this brings a completeness to my life. To feel that I have had a successful career, have a beautiful marriage and kids and now, I can give back to society what they have given to me as an actor. We are all born with the ability to change someone's life. Let's not waste it. You don't have a medical background. What gave you the confidence to start a hospital like Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital?

I was born and brought up in Mumbai and come from a large family , where I am the youngest of nine children. We eight sisters are very close and are a huge support system to each other. I was a Times of India Femina girl and became Miss Teenage India at 17. I represented India at Netherlands and became Miss Teenage Intercontinental.
My parents were very forward-thinking and they always felt that, `We have given you the best upbringing and now it is your life and your decision and every action has a reaction so think and decide.' I won and came back and Femina had me on their cover. Dev Anand sahab was looking for a young girl to play a young bride in his film, based on illegal immigrants Des Pardes and he approached me. This was when I was in the first year of college. I wasn't sure, but my father said, `This is a once in a lifetime chance. I am not going to stop you, as I don't ever want you to tell me that I didn't allow you.' I agreed to do it and it turned out to be a great decision. I continued for two years in college even after that and then dropped out of education, as I couldn't manage both. Des Pardes went on to becoming a big success and I got offered a lot of films and enjoyed every bit of my film career. I lost my father when I was 21. At 26, I didn't want to be in the movies and wanted to learn something else. So I went to the US to study computers and interior designing. I thought I had personally reached the peak of my work and did not think that I had more to give than I had already . I wanted to explore the world. I returned to India in 1990. I knew Anil as he too was a Gujarati and we had common friends.
We dated for a few months when I returned, I met his parents and we got married. Post marriage, I worked for the Harmony division of Reliance that was into sarees and fabrics. I then designed one of the offices of Reliance at Ballard Estate. I run the Harmony Foundation that deals with silver citizens and I feel that people who brought us up and supported us and made us who we are, due to some silly reason, we have just ignored them. They have skills that can benefit a society like us.
For instance, a professional old teacher can actually help teach young kids. So, I also ran a magazine that is only targetted at senior citizens. We are now looking at community living and want to develop a place, where the old can come and stay . It was intuitive that I wanted to do this. I had an experience in Australia, where I had gone to visit friends and family . Somebody in their family at 80 had passed away . Three days after, the person I was staying with said to me, while we were sitting at the bar and chatting having a drink, `In so many years that I lived with her as my mother's son, I never once told her that I loved her.' That really hit me and I realised that we needed to sensitise people about our elders. In 2005, when I was given this hospital project to do, I told my husband Anil, `I don't know anything about a medical background.' But he said, `Don't you remember what papa used to say , that you don't have to know. He would say , `I put up a refinery and knew nothing about it but I hired the best people.'' So Anil said, `You don't need to be a doctor to build a hospital.
You have to go and hire the best people and the hospital will be ready .' And that is what I did and the hospital came up in 2009. I have been very intuitive and instinctive and my gut has never made me go wrong. When I have done something wrong, I have done that knowingly, as sometimes you have to take decisions for whatever reasons. Again, my father-in-law would say that a good decision is a timely decision.

Let's talk about your father-in-law Dhirubhai Ambani...
He was amazing. I spent about 11 years with him. He was an institution. Every time you sat with him, you learnt something. I don't remember ever a 10 minutes spent with him where you didn't learn something from him. He was bighearted, magnanimous in his thought process and wanted everyone to enjoy his creations. He always wanted to share his wealth. He was a big visionary and always created something and thought of money only as a by product.
He was a karmayogi in the truest sense.
He had very basic needs and his passion and drive was to create. He was always like a friend to me and was very warm. I would always want to touch his feet and he would say , `No shake hands.' He loved to make fun of me and would tease me. When I got engaged to Anil, he told me, `I hope you know that work is Anil's first wife.' He used to say that India should have a 1000 Dhirubhai Ambanis. He would tell us 15 years ago that the sensex would reach 20,000. He was right.

Talk about your husband Anil Ambani...

What struck me about him the most was his simplicity . He was wellinformed, well-educated, good looking, smart, well-spoken, well-brought up, articulate with great sense of humour.
He is almost perfect. He is sensitive, thoughtful not just about me or the kids but about people he knows. He is a giver.
He had all the qualities you look for in a husband. I think what he likes about me also is that with me I am straightforward and you get what you see. We are both equally emotional and best friends even today and he is my emo tional anchor.

Do you miss your parents?

My mother was a very simple noninterfering kind of woman. All her life she just had her babies and looked after all of us. My dad was a businessman, very well read, would tell us stories of science fiction. I was a part of a liberal upbringing where my father always believed in letting us have our own lives saying that we would learn from our own mistakes. The reason that I love them so much or miss them so much is due to the upbringing they have given me, due to which I have been able to sail through so many different things. I must really say that I am so proud to be their daughter. My total being and the way I am is basically a gift of my parents. The lowest point for me in my life was when my mother passed away 18 years back, after my first son was born.
You depend on a mother without you knowing that. She had eight daughters, but each one of us thought that we were her favourites. I realize today that the reason why things happen in life is because you need to give back. I want to give back in every way that I can. My father-in-law and my parents who are not alive today would have been so proud of me today . My mother-in-law always tells me that she is proud of me and this hospital is our tribute to her in our lifetime. She understands everything and is a huge strength and support to me in every sense. I remember when we started Robotic surgery , she sat in the OT to see that. She is a fast learner and is always happy to learn new things. Much like my father-in-law she believes that, `Till my last day, I am a learner.'

Organ Donation Day on August 13 is an initiative of The Times of India being presented in partnership with Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, to create awareness around organ donation and get more people to register as donors.

To show your support for organ donation, give us a missed call at 08080055555. To register yourself in the national database of organ donors, log on to http:www.organdonationday.in.
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