Storms in the Sea Wind is a graphic account of the split in the Ambani Empire with the two brothers, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, slugging out their media rich fight over the Rs 100,000 crores Reliance Group created by their father Dhirubhai Ambani.

The pace of the book is set from the first line onward with a whack, as an investigative thriller in the fine tradition of Bob Woodward (of Watergate fame) and company. There is that unputdownable quality despite the myriad figures, e-mail quotes and plethora of board-room jargon that is an inevitable part of such investigative writing.

The book captures the essence of the no-holds-bar war with all the elements of manoeuvring, deceit, suspense, back stabbing, highs and lows (mostly lows) where detectives park themselves in seedy hotels and take their targets out to dance bars to loosen their tongue.

Despite the popular, mass-appeal tone of the book, the author has provided a multitude of facts and figures that substantiate the veracity and depth of the investigation. The countless and sometimes convoluted cross-holdings of Reliance Group companies, their twisted calculations to ensure grip of the Ambani family over these companies and discrete manipulation of their matrix of figures and connectivity to shift the balance in favour of Mukesh, all go to show the extensive thesis of business economics that form the background paper for the book.

The author is a business journalist of a well-known magazine who has been following the ‘Ambani story’ since its inception, even before its emergence and writing on it since then. It therefore becomes a challenge to maintain the delicate balance of objective neutrality when the medium of expression is shifted from the luscious frame of a magazine to the weightiness of a book. To his credit, he has been neutral.

In a mud slinging game of high financial stake, the finger gets pointed at almost everyone. The two fighting Ambani brothers, their family and aids, the different enforcement departments of the government, the politicians and the beaurocrats, and even the media who often take sides in the fight.

One interesting facet of the book is the character of Dhirubhai Ambani the patriarch. Though the fissure among his two sons, the subject matter of the book, began after his death, Dhirubhai appears time and again between the covers. This is since, the psyche of the Reliance Group, the way it operated in the early days of its formation, its modus operandi vis-a-vis the government, competitors or its numerous share holders, all are so much an extension of Dhirubhai's personality. On the whole, an entertaining and enlightening book, authoritatively written. A peep show of the world of big business caught in the act. Storms in the Sea Wind.

By Alam Srinivas.

Published by The Lotus Collection.

Roli Books.