Dwarka, April 4 -- Anant Ambani, Director of Reliance Industries Limited, is on a 170-kilometre padayatra from Jamnagar, his ancestral hometown and karmabhoomi, to Dwarka.

After setting out on March 29, he has been covering about 20 kilometres daily, walking for about seven hours each night. He will reach Dwarka, a city that is etched in India's religious and spiritual lore, on April 8--a day before his 30th birthday.

Along the way, Ambani has encountered an attitude of reverence and goodwill--some have walked along with him a part of the way in solidarity, others have given his pictures of the presiding deity Lord Dwarkadhish and still others have come over with their horses to get their pictures taken.

Ambani's padayatra is also rema...