They don’t make Ratans anymore

IT was late evening on January 10, 2008. We were in England on Air Force duty and after a long day in the cold, wet and windy English weather, we were enjoying a drink in the cosy anteroom of the hotel.

The news was playing out on television when the announcer’s voice, speaking about the smallest car in the world, caught everyone’s attention. The news presenter’s words are still imprinted in my memory. With the screen showing the Nano being driven into the Auto Expo 2008 and Ratan Tata emerging with four other persons from that ‘little thing’, the announcer, with an incredulous expression, said, ‘….Can you imagine a car that costs less than the CD player in your Toyota Lexus?’

There were ‘oohs and aahas’, but we Indians in the room knew that something different was happening. That the Nano didn’t exactly set the auto market afire (after the initial euphoria) is a different story, but for me, it was a continuation of what I had heard since my childhood in the 1960s — that ‘Tata’ was not just the name of an individual but a term that had come to represent something that one could depend on. ‘Tata ka hai’ translated to ‘quality’.

The demise of Ratan Tata is, thus, the passing of another icon of a generation that set the foundation on which our India is rising.

Tata vehicles were the most visible load carriers that plied on the Indian roads in the 1960s and 1970s. Our school buses, state transport carriages, commercial trucks, et al, initially had the Mercedes star on the bonnets. After all, it was Tata Mercedes Benz then. But every vehicle’s tailboard, with hardly an exception, had the words ‘OK TATA, Bye Bye’.

And, as the Mercedes star gave way to the new ‘T’ emblem, the Tata Indica arrived. Once again, the spirit associated with the vehicle was more than the car itself — it was the first truly Indian car to hit the roads. Remember, the Maruti 800 was a rebranded Suzuki. And when the Tatas acquired the Jaguar Land Rover in the UK, many of us couldn’t help getting a smug expression on our faces!

And, as I write this piece after reading that Ratan Tata is no more, I cannot emphasise enough that TATA is a name that is inextricably tied with an Indian’s daily life. Though Ratan inherited a vast industrial empire, the challenge to stay ahead of the pack would have been immense. Donning the mantle of the legendary JRD Tata would have been an even greater challenge, but the fact that Ratan diversified into other avenues — and succeeded — is the stuff of legend.

As I drink my morning cuppa tea, from the Tatas, I am reminded of the famous line from an iconic full-page advertisement that showcased the philanthropic work being done by the Tata Group. At the bottom were the words: ‘We also make steel.’

Alas, they don’t make Ratans anymore!