“Here comes the naka, here comes the naka!” That’s what the spice merchants in Surat and Vallodara, the two major urban centres of Gujarat state in India, used to shout when they saw Dirubhai Abhani. The then chairman of Reliance Commercial Corporation, and founder of the dynasty that has brought his family among the world’s richest, had this nickname, which of course no one dared to say in front of him: the “nose”. Naka is the nose in Gujarat, Abhani’s native language.

Abani used to take long breaths when he went over the big sacks of spices. As if he wanted to suck in the cumin, garlic, fennel, dill, and especially the chili, the hot pepper, that the merchants were ready to sell him. His first occupation was with spices. But he had something much bigger in mind. A revolution. His nose could smell money with equal ease, except for the quality of the spices.

Born in a village in Gujarat province to an elementary school teacher father, Dirubai Abani found himself at an early age in Aden, in what is now Yemen. Then a British colony, with a huge naval base that “controlled” the route to the Indies, Aden taught Abbani’s father about trade and the demand for spices. So when in 1958, at the age of 25, he returned home and settled in Mumbai – still called Mumbai at the time – it was the first thing he tackled. He set up a company with his second cousin, Chabakklal Damani. Mukesh, his eldest son, was still an infant when the family took the road back. Dirubai, however, was ready to take a risk. And he started the revolution from the spices he sent to Aden: He raised the quality and lowered the price, accepting a smaller profit margin. He was soon vindicated. Suppliers lined up to buy from him.

Investing in a sacrilege: Polyester fabrics

The money he raised he poured into his groundbreaking idea: Polyester fabrics. Made from threads made from polyester, to be precise. In 1960s India, which boasted a long tradition of cotton fabrics and even supplied the tailors of Savile Row in London, selling polyester fabrics was tantamount to sacrilege. And yet…

The cousin insisted they stick to spices, but Dirubai was so sure of his idea that they decided to split the business, he kept the polyester thread trade and left the spices to the cousin. In fact, in 1965 he renamed the company Reliance Textiles Ltd. So that there was no doubt that he would go into textiles. The name stayed until 1973, when it was changed to Reliance Industries Ltd. which is still in existence today.

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