TATAS BY GIRISH KUBER

The Tatas by Girish Kuber; Published by Harper Business; Pages 263 ; Price Rs.699/-

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The book under review bagged the Gala Business Book Prize for 2019.The author Girish Kuber is the Editor of Loksatta who has to his credit six books in Marathi. The book under review is translated from the original Marathi "Tatayan" by Vikram Pande who has translated many books from Marathi into English, including the classic "Shivaji, the great Maratha" by Ranjit Desai.

The nineteenth century was an exciting time of initiative and enterprise around the world. If John D. Rockefeller was creating unimagined wealth in the United States that he would put to the service of the nation, a Parsi family with humble roots was doing the same in India. In 1822, a boy was born in a priestly household in Gujarat's Navsari village. Young Nusserwanji knew early on that his destiny lay beyond his village and decided to head for Bombay to start a business - the first in his family to do so. He had neither higher education nor knowledge of business matters, just a burning passion to carve a path of his own. What Nusserwanji started as a cotton trading venture, his son Jamsetji, born in the same year as Rockefeller, grew into a multifaceted business, turning around sick textile mills, setting up an iron and steel company, envisioning a cutting-edge institute of higher learning, building a world-class hotel, and earning himself the title of the 'Bhishma Pitamah of Indian Industry'. Stewarded ably over the decades by Jamsetji's sons Dorabji and Ratanji, the charismatic and larger-than-life JRD, and thereafter the more business-like Ratan, the Tata group today is a 110-billion-dollar empire.

The present book is the story of the Tatas. More – it is also an inspiring account of India of the last 200 years. It portrays the contribution of each generation of the family in the expansion of business interests as well as nation building. The first hydel power project in the world was conceived of and built by the Tatas. Radical labour concepts such as eight-hour work shifts were introduced in India, at the Tata mill in Nagpur. The Tata Cancer Research Centre, the Indian Institute of Science, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the National Centre for the Performing Arts as also the national carrier Air India - the family has a long, rich and unrivalled legacy. The volume is a remarkable tribute to a galaxy of men of vision who carved a special place in the hearts and minds of ordinary Indians.

"The Tatas" starts in the nineteenth century with Nusserwanji Tata - a middle-class Parsi priest from the village of Navsari in Gujarat, and widely regarded as the Father of Indian Industry - and ends with Ratan Tata - chairman of the Tata Group until 2012.

In his book  Girish Kuber traces the 200 year old legacy of India’s one of the biggest business families. Right from the birth of Nusserwanji in 1822 to the present chairman Natrajan Chandrasekaran, this book encapsulates the journey that the Tatas have undertaken. Parallel to the story of the Tatas runs the story of India, so that the book depicts how the building of a business impacted the building of a nation.

The account of the family and its business skills presented here in this book is awe-inspiring. Rising from the regional to the national and finally to international level amidst the occasional crisis arising from within the group and sometimes without, the Tatas represent the power of conviction.

Growth stories of businesses and brands have become urban legends of our times. The Tata Group, undoubtedly, is among the top Indian names that is respected and valued the world over for its strong values and philanthropic vision. Girish Kuber takes the reader through the two century-long heritage of this business house and its leaders from the illustrious family, their vision and forward thinking.

Starting from the patriarch of the group — Nusserwanji Tata, born in a sleepy village, to the suave Ratan Tata now, the book traverses the 200-year journey of the Tata Group. The foundation of the $110-billion business empire was laid when a young Nussarwanji left Navsari in Gujarat to enter Bombay. “The only capital he possessed was a burning passion that lit up his path and helped him navigate an uncertain and difficult future”. Cotton trading was what Nusserwanji got into, and it was his ‘English educated’ son Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, who took his father’s business to another level by adding textile mills and iron and steel company to the list.

Jamsetji, called the Bhishma Pitamah of Indian industry, was the visionary who laid the foundations of a global business empire while facing the financial challenges triggered by the American Civil War. He was also the man behind the formation of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Taj Mahal Hotel and TISCO and even hydroelectricity for Bombay. He was the one who amalgamated philanthropic values and profit making into the DNA of his business. The contribution of the other iconic leaders of the group like RD and Jehangir Ratanji Tata are also no less illustrious as the dawn of 20th century saw the group grow in girth and influence in political and social circles.

Giving India its first airlines, the birth of Air India and the love and passion of JRD Tata in building it up to the pain he felt at losing it is poignant. The chapters on JRD and Ratan Tata, during whose tenure the group moved into the automobile and computer era are covered in great detail.

Bureaucratic wrangles and bitter-sweet relations with Nehru, Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi are recorded with veracity. The author has also pierced the veil of secrecy from controversies like the Nano plant and Cyrus Mistry conflicts. (There is some new development on the Mistry front). One gets a clearer picture of the various stages of building up of new India and the role of the Tatas in it and how leaders like JRD, RD and Ratan Tata have been extraordinary contributors.

The book is a source of inspiration for greenhorns in business .There are several bits of information about the Tata family and personal lives of the famous Tata figures. These peeps into the lives of the members of the Tata family forms an interesting part of the narrative and succeeds in breaking the monotony of a turgid historical narrative.

Tit--bits

Russy Mody was very different from all the other Tata group leaders--always enthusiastic and interested where the others were cautious and professional....He could play the piano very well--and owing to his mastery, he was once invited to accompany the great scientist Albert Einstein, who played the violin, before a big gathering in New York.

2. As far back as 1969,JRD Tata was on the world advisory board of the Nobel Foundation. He was in the elite company of people like the writer Arthur Koestler, poet Auden and two-time Nobel winner Dr.Linus Pauling.

P.P.Ramachandran.

29/12/2019.