BHAIYYA MERE RAKHI KE BANDHAN…..

By Ruma Dubey

You have Mothers day, Fathers day, Valentine’s day too. But India is unique in the sense that we are probably the only country which celebrates the beautiful bond shared by a brother and sister.  Today, as we celebrate Rakshabandhan, we are actually bringing and keeping intact the family unit. Often given a very melodramatic twist in Indian movies, rakhi symbolizes the very special bond which a brother and sister share.  As we adopt more and more of the Western culture, it would be quite a feat if we can show the world how to celebrate this relationship between a brother and sister.

Most sister’s will remember being bullied and bossed around by their brother and ask the brothers, they will say the same! Yet, the undeniable love between the two keeps this bond alive.

Today, on this auspicious occasion of Rakshabandhan, we start the week looking at some of the famous and successful brother sister duo.

In India Inc, there are quite a few of these duos. Gone are the days when the sisters are married off and the brothers run the business. Today, the girls are working alongside the boys, making a real team.

The first such team which comes to mind are the Ambani siblings - Akash and Isha, children of Mukesh and Nita Ambani. They come to mind because they just recently, as the Reliance Industries AGM, made their debut before the shareholders. They are twins and the 25-year-olds introduced a new cheaper handset JioPhone that was announced by their father and RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani at the AGM. Both are graduates of American universities; Isha is Director at Reliance Jio Infocomm and Akash Chief of Strategy at the same company. Hope this brother-sister team remains together and teach their warring father and uncle a lesson or two on family unity!

Then there is Nilesh and Vinita Gupta, children of Lupin empire. Nilesh studied at Wharton School and handles all research-related activities and supply chain along with many other responsibilities. Vinita, a Kellog graduate looks after Lupin's role in advance markets and manages United States and Europe among other roles.

The Primal group too has a brother-sister duo to take it to the next generation. Anand Piramal is responsible for the group’s foray into realty  while his sister, Nandini leads the over-the-counter division, which has well-known brands like Lacto Calamine and Saridon within its fold. She is also responsible for the Human Resources function at the group.

Talking about realty, another siblings team is that of the Godrej’s – two sisters – Tanya and Nisaba and one brother – Pirojsha.  Tanya is on the boards of several companies, including Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Industries and Godrej Agrovet.  Nisaba is Executive Director, Godrej Consumer Products, and leads the innovation strategy for the company. Pirojsha Godrej is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Godrej Properties.

There is also the “future” duo of Ashni and Vivek Biyani of the Future group but they are cousins. Ashni, is the brains behind the openings of Big Bazaar “family centres" while her  cousin Vivek manages Future Group's Home Town.

There are many more which come to mind – Rahul and Priyanka, Zoya and Farhan Akhtar,  Madhavrao Scindia and Vasundhara Raje, Ekta and Tushar Kapoor, Priya and Sanjay Dutt, Sara Pilot and Omar Abdulla.

Yes, the brother-sister relationship is unique. As writer, science writer Jeffrey Kluger righty say, “ Your parents leave you too soon and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are in your most inchoate form. Assuming you all reach a ripe old age, they’ll be with you until the very end, and for that reason, there is an intimacy and a familiarity that can’t possibly be available to you in any other relationship throughout your life.”

Cherish this relationship and nurture it for life. Happy Rakshabandhan!