At the Harvard India Conference 2025, Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani revealed her humble beginnings while growing up in a middle-class Gujarati family as she delivered the keynote address. The 60-year-old Ambani, who is also the NMACC Chairperson, shared with the assembled audience that while growing up in suburban Mumbai in the '70s, her parents couldn't afford to send her to Harvard. This peek into her early life, naturally, set social media?buzzing, evoking mixed reactions!
Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani whose?net worth is estimated to be around Rs 8.134 lakh crores, retraced her steps??about her childhood dreams during the keynote address.?
She revealed that on the morning of her speech, her mother - Purnima Dalal - spoke with her daughters-in-law, Shloka and Radhika, to recount a special memory.
"I must tell you this. In the morning today, my mother called my daughters-in-law¡ªShloka and Radhika¡ªand told them, 'When Nita was young, we could not afford to send her to Harvard, even though she wanted to go. Now, they have called her to speak at Harvard,'" she said, receiving a round of applause.
Ambani holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce & Economics in Mumbai.??
Expressing her gratitude, she added, "I just want to thank you all for making my mother so happy today."
The Internet, of course, had to weigh in, hours after this clip started going viral. From cynicism to sarcasm and disbelief, the range of reactions triggered by the comment from the IPL Mumbai Indians co-owner was vivid.
(Remember when Ananya Panday lamented that her dad wasn't even invited to Koffee with Karan? Ah, the heartbreaking struggles of the ultra-privileged!)
Nita Ambani reveals her parents couldn't afford to send her to Harvard as a student
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One Reddit user sarcastically asked, "Do you want me to call you a WHAMBULANCE?"?while another bluntly pointed out, "She could've continued her studies after marriage. It's not like she's doing housework over there."
Someone else rolled their eyes at the sentiment, saying, "If you're privileged, just accept it and enjoy your life. Why play the poor card?"
And perhaps the most straightforward reaction of all: "So she wants sympathy? 99.99% of Indian parents couldn't either."
But not everyone was as cynical as the others.?
One comment noted, "She studied at N.M. - it is one of the best colleges for commerce in India. Maybe she was really smart. There are a lot of rich people in India but not many deliver the impact that she has - why can't we accept that she must be a really smart person?"
Some said that it was time to take a leaf out of her book, and chin up and take life in its stride, while a few others gave a shout-out to her for her business wisdom and acumen.?
Nita Ambani, a commerce graduate from Mumbai University, has been driving corporate?philanthropy at the Reliance group after she married Mukesh Ambani in 1985.?An art aficionado, she is also?the chairperson and founder of the?Reliance Foundation,?Dhirubhai Ambani International School?and a director of?Reliance Industries.??
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