A school-teacher’s son from Chorward, this ‘messiah of Indian investors’, possessed the rare quality of not just being able to dream big, but the ability to make his dreams come true.

Despite losing the use of his right hand after a stroke in 1986, Dhirubhai went on to establish India’s largest business conglomerate, Reliance Industries Ltd.

The swarming multitude that accompanied the Ambanis in the funeral procession was testimony to the esteem that the common man held Dhirubhai in. With his death, an era in Indian entrepreneurship came to an end.