I WAS FORTUNATE to interview iconic business leaders like JRD Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Ratan Tata, Keshub Mahindra, Rahul Bajaj, Anand Mahindra, Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjiv Goenka, as well as legends like M S Swaminathan (father of the Green Revolution), banker N Vaghul and regulator D R Mehta, to name a few.
Let me kickstart this series with the most respected industrialists of our times – JRD Tata. A distinguished and charming personality, he was someone you couldn’t help but be in awe of. At the time, I was working with India Today and met him in his well-appointed office on the fourth floor of Bombay House. He sat behind a large table on a swivel chair with white upholstery, a world map behind him on the wall. Nattily dressed as always, he welcomed us warmly. His sharp eyes and the lines on his face added grace; he certainly did not look 89.
I met him against the backdrop of the communal riots that erupted in Surat in December 1992 following the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He was joined by two Tata Sons directors – Sharokh A Sabavala, the group’s public relations adviser, and Dr. Freddie A Mehta, its chief economist. He was deeply disturbed by the communal violence. At one point he turned to Sharokh and asked, “Didn’t we set up our first textile mills in Surat?” The conversation then drifted to other topics. I cannot recall why, but he did mention Hindu funeral rites and said he wouldn’t mind such rites for himself.
Eleven months later, he passed away on 29 November 1993 in Geneva, Switzerland. As per his last wishes, he was buried in the family vault at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. In Mumbai, final rites were performed at the Parsis’ Tower of Silence, which was attended by the media; Sabavala briefed us there. I may have been one of the last journalists to interview him. Unfortunately, that interview was never published.
As chairman of Tata Sons for 50 years, JRD Tata also chaired most of the group’s 95 companies. His management style was unique. He believed in surrounding himself with extraordinary individual champions who collectively recognised him as the boss. Jeh, as he was fondly called, did not interfere in day-to-day operations. Each company was its satrap’s fiefdom, and none crossed into another’s territory. Yet at the AGMs, he was unquestionably the boss. But all hell broke loose in 1991 when, after 50 years at the helm, JRD appointed Ratan Tata as chairman of Tata Sons. The satraps knew this day would come, yet they revolted against Ratan. More on this later when we talk about Ratan Tata in this series.
JRD consciously kept out of politics. On one occasion he offered advice to Prime Minister Nehru on an industrial policy which was not well received. Yet he maintained a cordial relationship with Indira Gandhi and wrote private letters to her whenever he felt strongly about economic policies.
When the Janata Party came to power in 1977, socialist leader George Fernandes – known as a giant killer for forcing IBM and Coca-Cola out of India—was keen on nationalising Tata Steel. But JRD fought back fiercely. He used advocacy, printing and distributing pamphlets to build public opinion against nationalisation. During that period, in February 1978, he was removed as chairman of Air India by Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Fortunately for him, the tide turned. The Janata party’s stint in power was short-lived. In the 1980 general election, the Congress under Indira Gandhi returned to power and JRD heaved a sigh of relief. The wheel had come full circle. Air India is now, fittingly, back in the Tata fold.