Sibling Excess, a great article on Tehelka which takes a look at how the sibling rivalry between the Ambhani Brothers, Anil and Mukesh, has hurt no one, and how it has benefited both investors and India.

Who cares if the brothers are fighting, the markets are growing because the two are trying to outdo each other.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

Due to a small act by my mom, I have a great example of this turn around of the Reliance empire. So this is how the story goes. My grandfather, a freedom fighter and an INA soldier, used to get a substantial pension from both the Central Government of India, and Kerala State Government. Back in 1992, he was bedridden after suffering from a stroke, and my mom used to take care of him, and manage his pension. It was also the year I turned 18, and as an 18th birthday gift from my grandfather and her, she bought some Reliance stock in my name for Rs. 6000, which was money left over after expenses, from my grandfather’s pension.

A year and half back, when Reliance was split up between the two brothers, all those Reliance shares got converted into stocks for each of the companies created at the time of the split. Today, I still have those stocks, and they are worth over Rs. 86,000. That’s approximately an amazing 1300% gain, with most of the gain coming in just the last two years.

With India still growing economically, this sibling rivalry is no where from over, and there is still a lot more to come. So, as an experiment, I am going to hold on to my Reliance shares longer, and post it’s performance every few months.