A friend in need is a friend indeed” is an old saying that suggests that friends must come forward to help friends when the need arises. In the same vein, can we not say that a brother in need is a brother indeed? Well, elder brother Mukesh Ambani proved exactly this, and in no uncertain terms, by bailing out younger brother Anil Ambani. The latter was in quite a bit of trouble after the Supreme Court had ordered that he either pay the dues of Ericsson amounting to Rs 580 crore, including the penalty, or face a jail sentence of three months. Senior Ambani intervened just in time to save the younger sibling from the ignominy of a jail sentence. A noble gesture indeed, given the huge amount, which also proved a point or two about the Indian tradition and value system where brothers have set examples of love and bonding time and again in history. True, there are instances that prove otherwise but what the Ambani brothers established was that sibling rivalry cannot be generalised though they are to be found. Sibling rivalry, for that matter, can be traced to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, the first brothers to appear on earth. From that story to the present times, sibling relationship has always been a mixed bag. There are cases of envy and hatred between brothers reaching up to a dangerous level of animosity, sometimes leading to a bloody feud. But there are heartening instances, too, like the present one that vindicate the spirit of the popular and ancient proverb that blood is thicker than water. Familial bonds are quite strong and arouse the feeling of being a part of the common descent. The Indian family system has always been a subject of curiosity and intrigue for the Western scholars of sociology where deep individualism rules the roost. Of course, the Indian family system has also been influenced by the cultural exchanges from the Western world, and is undergoing the disintegration owing to social and economic compulsions, but the emotional bonding keeps rising at times. Intra-family rivalry, particularly between siblings, cannot be said to be a missing trait in these times but the bonding of the blood relations becomes evident in times of external threat. There is an interesting incident from the Mahabharata when the Gandharvas attacked and captured the Kauravas, including Duryodhana. The Pandavas are told of this and there was a view particularly from Arjun and Bhim to let them suffer. But the elder Pandava, Yudhisthira, intervened saying that it is the question of family honour and even though Kaurava brothers bore animosity to the Pandavas, it was an imperative for the latter to come to the rescue of the former and fight the Gandharvas. Matters of the head and heart, thus, are difficult to explain and emotions being an attribute of the heart may not be interpreted or predicted with the help of Artificial Intelligence. What a human being does or has been doing, therefore, cannot be a sure shot predictor of what he will do. Reasons of the heart are driven by a completely different heuristic. The eleventh hour intervention of Mukesh Ambani for the younger brother demonstrated much more than what rationality could explain and showed the importance of the strength of family values and relationships. More importantly, it may have a lot more implications for Indian business.

Pathak is a professor of management, writer, and an acclaimed public speaker. He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com