New Delhi, April 25 -- Kapal Mehra once went head-to-head with Dhirubhai Ambani in the ruthless synthetic textile wars of the 1980s. In a battle fought over polyester yarn and government licences, Mehra would ultimately lose everything.

As a serious contender, he should have secured a place in corporate folklore. Instead, remarkably little is known about him today. After the swift collapse of his fortunes, it is almost as if Kapal Mehra was erased from memory.

His story begins, as many Indian business dynasties do, with a father. Orkay Silk Mills was founded in 1968 and soon grew into one of India's fastest-growing textile firms.

In the 1970s, a young and ambitious Dhirubhai Ambani approached the elder Mehra for advice on setting up a ...