They’ve known each other for at least 30 years now, since their days as students at St Xavier’s College.Mukesh was a debater in college and he and Parikh debated against each other on occasion.
They’ve known each other for at least 30 years now, since their days as students at St Xavier’s College. “Mukesh was shy in college and he kept to a close circle of friends,” says Rajesh, who’s now a consultant at Jaslok Hospital. “He was never fond of flamboyance or a large number of people as friends since he was more or less family-oriented.”
Mukesh was a debater in college and he and Parikh debated against each other on occasion. “His debating style was never oratorical or loud but more deeply thought out and spoken quietly and firmly,” says Parikh, who is one of his best friends. The good doctor got married to Firuza in 1984 and moved to the US for five years while Mukesh and Nita wed a short while later.
But after the Parikhs’ return to India in 1989, the two families only grew closer. “We reconnected through common friends – mainly Dr Kiran Manelkar – and for the last 20 years we’ve spent more time together than ever before. Firuza and Nita connected very well and that was a godsend. In fact we’re godparents to the Ambanis’ children and they’re godparents to ours.”
What do Rajesh and his friend connect about? “We chat mainly about ideas, we never discuss people. Sometimes we talk about events as well. Mukesh has a fascination for science and knows more about science than I do,” confesses Rajesh. “His interests are business and science oriented while mine are science and arts oriented. Therefore we connect on scientific issues.”
A friend in need is a friend indeed. When Dhirubhai Ambani was critically ill, Dr Firuza Parikh was the first one to rush to his bedside and have him evacuated to Breach Candy hospital. Mukesh, who trusted Rajesh’s judgement implicitly, called him up in Toronto where he was attending a medical conference.
“I asked him whether I should come back to Mumbai and he said simply ‘yes’. It was based on the strength of our close relationship that he could do that.” Rajesh rushed back to Mumbai after just a day’s stay in Canada and was on the team of consultant doctors that attended to Dhirubhai Ambani in his last moments.
“What I most appreciate about Mukesh is that he’s never used the words ‘I’m busy’ for me or any other member of my family, despite his terrifically hectic schedule,” says Rajesh.
“If we ever need him he says ‘come on over’ right away, to even my children. I remember when my daughter Nikita was over at his house and he was quizzing her on her schoolwork, she admitted to him that she found physics an incredibly hard subject. Right there and then Mukesh gave her a two-and-a-half hour physics tutorial,” marvels Rajesh.
But in the final analysis, Dr Parikh feels that despite his circle of friends that also includes Anand Jain, Mukesh’s best friend is wife Nita. “He discusses everything with her first and last.”
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