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The Creation of Wealth: The Tatas from the 19th to the
21st Century
Lala’s narration of the various path-breaking efforts made by the House of Tata brings out three things with striking clarity: One, that this was one business family with remarkable foresight and vision. It had its finger on the pulse of the Indian economy. It almost invariably set up ventures which were not just firsts in the field but were firsts with far-reaching impact on Indian industry and economy at a time when the industry was nascent in India. Two, the House of Tata introduced the concept of philanthropy to Indian society in a big way. Charitable efforts in India before then and even now continue to be essentially religious and narrow in scope. The Tatas gave these efforts a new meaning and consistently channelled their hard-earned wealth into constructive efforts for the betterment of society. Three, they were very sensitive to learning as a tool for the improvement of the society and economy. Accordingly, they set up and administered a number of scholarships and fellowships that resulted in the enhancement of some of the best minds of the country. They also set up institutions like the IISC, NIAS, TISS, TIFR that rapidly acquired leadership positions in the world. The book describes the efforts made first by Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata and later by the House of Tata in setting up path-breaking industrial ventures such as the Empress Mills at Nagpur, the Swadeshi Mills in Mumbai, the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur and the Tata electric companies, to name a few. It chronicles the teething problems faced by these companies, in particular TISCO, and the extraordinary efforts made and the deep commitment shown by the Tatas to the success of the fledgling ventures. The considerable vision and missionary zeal shown by the Tatas in conceiving and helping set up institutes like the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai also is another reason for the nation to be grateful to the House of Tata. Lala tells us the story of founding of Tata Air Lines — the company which later gave birth to Air India and Indian Airlines and the first-ever effort in the country at a joint enterprise between the public and private sector. If you want to know what the Tatas have done in public life then this is the book for you. We do wish however that Lala had also tried to tell us just how the Tatas managed to achieve so much. Nowhere does he try to get into the mind of the various Tata leaders whose efforts he describes or to see what made them tick. What were the obstacles they faced; how they dealt with these: these issues are not even touched upon. As such, if you also want to know how the Tatas became pioneers in the creation of wealth, how they overcame the numerous obstacles that routinely fox most other people, then you will be disappointed. |
AS our country tries to claw its way out of the dump
that it has been in during the past 200 years, it looks around
desperately for heroes. By and large none seem to be forthcoming. The
ones who do exist have feet of clay. In this dreary scenario when a
miniscule number of heroes that can be found get feted extensively and
unquestioningly. This book, by an ex-journalist and current director in
many of the Tata companies, is designed to commemorate the great work
that the Tata family has done for the country. But while paying high
honour to the Tatas it merely lists their achievements without saying
anything about how such achievements came about when very few of their
contemporaries were able to do as much. It also does not say how the
Tatas were able to escape the pernicious touch of socialistic politics
that killed many an enterprise and led to the emergence of the
rule-manipulating entrepreneur.