This 29th of November marks the 28th death anniversary of JRD Tata and I pay my respects to the unanointed saint who led a life of nothing less than any divine soul that we refer to in our holy books. JRD breathed his last on 29th November 1993 at the age of 89 years. At the backdrop of all his contributions to our country throughout his life, very little is known about the pain he had endured at every stage. JRD led an adventurous life with passion but his sufferings were many. JRD’s life was constantly marked with deaths of family members and close friends throughout his life; apart from which he also faced financial and business disappointments both during the British Raj as well as during the license raj of Independent India. He tread the path of thorns like a bed of roses but still continued his journey without complaining.
To begin with, JRD’s education was disrupted regularly because his family was always on the move between France and India. JRD’s schooling was in Paris, then Bombay (Cathedral School) and also at Japan. As most of his schooling was in France, JRD was fluent only in French and found it difficult to gather the right words in English which was also because of his mixed heritage. Later, he worked hard and excelled at English and developed a passion for poetry and into a fine editor of journals too. JRD was eager to pursue Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge but it only proved elusive for it never happened. JRD missed out on a university education which he regretted throughout his life for his father felt that it may not be necessary; but JRD felt that it was important. This regret made him work harder and excel in whatever he did in his life.
JRD’s mother died in 1923 in Paris after battling with tuberculosis for a long time and during the summer of 1926, his father died of a heart attack in France while holidaying with the rest of children, other than JRD who was in India on that fateful day. He was twenty two years of age and it was the water-shed of his life, for he found himself as the head of the family and with the responsibility to take care of them and, on the other hand, he had to take care of his father’s business. In May, 1936, JRD’s youngest brother Jimmy died in a plane crash in Austria at the age of twenty two, with whom JRD had a closer relationship. JRD’s second brother Dorab was an obstinate person with a short temper and their relationship was a difficult one. The biggest upset in the life of JRD was when Dorab sold his Tata Sons shares to Mr. Shapoorji Pallonji without intimating JRD. (Mr. Cyrus who was the Chairman of Tata Sons between 2012-2016, is the son of Shapoorji). JRD never pardoned his brother for this and kept him away from the business activities and never saw eye to eye with him or spoke about him for the rest of his life. Dorab Tata died in 1987 after a prolonged illness of nervous breakdown.
JRD’s elder sister Sylla had a great influence on him and was very attached to him; JRD was heartbroken when she died of cancer in 1963 in Nice, France. Later in 1966, the death of Sylla’s husband Gianni Bertoli and also the sudden loss of Homi Bhabha in the fateful plane crash near Mont Blanc, had shaken JRD badly. Homi Bhabha, the Indian nuclear scientist, was very close associate and friend of JRD. JRD’s youngest sister Rodabeh was just a feminine version of JRD. Her husband, Colonel Leslie Sawhney, was very talented and close to JRD and Leslie’s sudden death in 1966 was a crushing blow to him. Sawhney was considered a possible Chairman of the Tata Group. Rodabeh suffered from Alzheimer’s disease during her later years and JRD took care of her along with his wife Thelma, until he died. JRD loved children but he and Thelma never had any.
Apart from his personal life, JRD’s business woes were many. Jawaharlal Nehru’s socialistic pattern of governance caused concerns to JRD but he was always bold to express his opinion on that. JRD believed that prosperity by socialistic governance was a myth and an unpleasant reality; he believed that only free enterprise will always give a new lease of life and the community, in general, will be greatly benefitted. After the sea of changes in liberalisation in India since 1991, the metamorphosis we all now witness how true JRD’s vision was; far better than the ones who governed.
Yet JRD was distanced, insulted and deprived of the many opportunities by the Indian leaders throughout his life. In 1934, Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, India’s most celebrated civil engineer who was the Dewan of Mysore published a book by name Planning Economy of India, where he emphasised the need to organise villages as economic units. Taking a cue from the book and inspired by Visvesvaraya’s one liner, ‘Industrialise or perish’, JRD conceived the Bombay Plan in 1944. JRD hosted a group of eminent industrialists and along with them represented the need for a Rs 10,000 crore investment by the Union Government for the development of India provided in a 90-page plan. The main objective was the development of the economic conditions of the Indian people. The plan was refused by the government, but later it released the first Five-Year Plan which everyone knew was drafted by the industrialists. The government frequently poached the ‘Tata Talent’ and this was not the first time.
On 1st of August, 1953, the Government of India nationalised Tata Airlines, which was the greatest blow and disappointment to JRD that deeply pained him. It was daylight robbery. What hurt JRD more was that when he met Jagjivan Ram, the then Communications Minister, who showed no interest to know his alternative proposals. JRD was never consulted on the nationalisation of Air India and he minced no words when he met Nehru and expressed the shabby treatment the government gave him. After the nationalisation, the relationship between JRD and Nehru was damaged beyond repair. A day before the nationalisation JRD sent a touching farewell message to his airlines staff which moved everyone. In 1955, the Tata Airlines aircraft Kashmir Princess was assigned to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai for the Non-Aligned Countries meeting at Bandung. There was an explosion onboard before the plane took off from Hong Kong, along with the flight crew and sixteen passengers. On investigation after the disaster, it came to light that everyone knew about the threat on Zhou Enlai and it was the reason he did not even board the flight. Tata Airlines was never warned about it. It remains a mystery. Loss of the aircraft and his innocent crew due to a political sabotage was a blow to JRD.
JRD’s ambitions were also betrayed by the Government of India. Tata’s New India Insurance was nationalised in 1956, and so was General Insurance in 1973; which upset JRD yet again. In 1960, the government introduced huge restrictions in trade and entrepreneurship and started nationalising private enterprises. JRD was disappointed with the price controls imposed on most items and especially ‘steel’ which added to his sagging spirits. But JRD was not let down, instead his experimentation and innovative mind evolved a new idea – to manufacture cars. In 1960, with the collaboration of Mercedes-Benz, JRD made four cars and loaned them to the Secretary of Commerce and Industry to use for a year and to take decision. The Ministry used the cars and appreciated their performance, but never gave him permission. JRD was never even informed the reason for non-approval.
Both Nehru and Indira Gandhi never accepted his views on economy, while Nehru used to stare out of his window, Indira Gandhi used to be busy opening mails while he was talking. Indira Gandhi never allowed the Tatas the mega-fertiliser project proposed at Mithapur nor allowed them to produce cars. Progress of Tatas was restricted by all means. The turn of the Janata Government came to snub the Tatas and JRD in 1971 when George Fernandez as Industries Minister had plans to nationalise the mighty TISCO. Nine years ago, JRD offered George Fernandez the leadership of Tata Workers Union and one can read the mind of the same person who in return wanted to nationalise TISCO and offer JRD the Chairmanship. It was the Tata Workers Union which protested the move and represented before the Prime Minister, Morarji Desai; the proposal to nationalise TISCO was called off. During a rally at Allahabad in 1987, VP Singh in his speech accused the big business houses (indicating the Tatas) of running a parallel economy by repatriating capital to foreign companies. JRD was deeply disturbed and questioned VP Singh by way of a letter to categorically explain his allegations. As there was only a silence in response, JRD went boldly to the press. The entire press of India supported JRD.
1st January, 1978 was a tragic beginning for JRD with the Air India’s Emperor Ashoka plunging into the sea off Bombay on the eve of the New Year and a few days later, his dismissal from the Board of Air India and Indian Airlines. It was a one-sided authoritarian act by none other than Morarji Desai conveyed to JRD in a very insulting manner. The man responsible for civil aviation in India was belittled by the government and it hurt JRD very deep. JRD remembered meeting Morarji Desai only a few days ago and he never gave any hint about it and hence, he understood that it should be the past incident, while Morarji was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra that could have provoked. JRD met Morarji Desai along with Sir Homi Mody to discuss about the possible future power shortage in Bombay; and when Morarji differed with his views JRD just got up and left saying that he should not waste either his or the CM’s time. JRD considered the present move as back-stabbing. JRD was instrumental in supporting Homi Bhabha and in the incidents that led to the formation of Indian Atomic Energy Commission and he served as a member of the board for twenty six years. Despite his contribution and role in the formation, Morarji Desai dropped JRD from the membership of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission without notice in 1977.
JRD believed in reincarnation and viewed service to the countrymen as the true religion and just like Marcus Aurelius, the famous Roman Emperor, JRD believed that one has to play his role. And he did play his role with passion and compassion which benefited all. PV Narasimha Rao, who was the Prime Minister that introduced the economical reforms in 1992 putting an end to the licence raj, ensured that JRD Tata was recognised for his contribution to the country.
On March 1992, JRD was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award by the Government of India. A year after receipt of the award, JRD breathed his last on 29th November, 1993. The doyen of Indian Industrialism died peacefully in his sleep on a Monday morning. His last words while in the hospital bed at Geneva, four days before his peaceful demise, were, “You know, I am going to another world and it's exciting, very exciting.” That was the end of a legend and saga of an extraordinary person who exhibited character and adventure for the progress of both his organisation as well as the society at large. We all should remember JRD today and salute him for his contribution to our country. JRD was a true Bharat Ratna.
On 9th October, 1993, JRD left Bombay for Geneva. He never returned to the country he served for more than half a century. JRD died peacefully in his sleep on 29th November the same year. The press coverage given on JRD’s death was equal to that of a Prime Minister. In his memory, the Indian Parliament adjourned in an unusual special gesture to a private citizen. The Government of Maharashtra declared three days holidays.
JRD carried a beautiful leather scrapbook engraved with letters JRD in gold, from 1920 until his death. The most frequent quotes were of death and love and he scribbled at one page in the year 1987 was, ‘I don’t know why although I am full of fun, there is no doubt that in poetry for instance, it is more tragic things and death which appeal to me.”
(The facts narrated in the blog are mostly from the information available in the book, ‘JEH’: A Life of J.R.D Tata by Bakhtiar K Dadabhoy, and from other journals)