The Hindu Business Line : J. R. D. Tata Letters — A citizen, industrialist revealed

A collection of 300 letters written by the doyen of Indian industry, J. R. D. Tata to eminent political and economic personalities, scientists and artists of his time reveal the fascinating facets of his personality, his relationships with people, the projects he was involved in, his views on various issues, his kindness, forthrightness and sense of humour, his concerns as a citizen, the values he lived by, and his personal interests, says S. D. Naik.

J. R. D. TATA, a doyen of Indian industry, a visionary, father of civil aviation in India, and, above all, an incredible human being, has left an indelible impression on the country's economic and social life.

He was at the helm of the largest industrial group in India for well over half a century and was also the head of one of the largest public sector undertakings, Air India International for over four decades.

JRD took over as Chairman of the Tata group at the young age of 34 in 1938 and guided its course till his death in 1993, though he relinquished Chairmanship in 1991. The fortunes of the group witnessed a spectacular growth during his tenure lasting over half a century. The group's assets and turnover zoomed several fold under his stewardship. Over these long years, JRD was not only the head of the Tata group but was also seen as the captain of India Inc.

JRD was gifted with remarkable vision and foresight. He could spot the trends in business before they happened. Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software and IT services company was a brainchild of JRD and his trusted aide Fakir Chand Kohli. It was born in the early 1970s and has grown to become the largest Indian company in its field with offices in several countries.

What is more important, despite his extremely busy schedule, he found time for various social causes including promoting family planning, gender equality and child welfare.

He played a crucial role in the setting up of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and India's first cancer hospital, the Tata Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research and Treatment, apart from playing an important part in the creation of the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai and the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore.

At 40, he set up a multi-purpose trust, the J.R.D. Tata Trust, by donating many of his valuable shares in Tata Sons Ltd and other Tata companies.

Among his concerns was the plight of disadvantaged women and he established a trust of his own called the J.R.D. Tata and Thelma J. Tata trust to improve their lot. The nation's highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, was conferred on him in 1992, the only industrialist to receive the honour so far. July 29, 2004 was JRD's birth centenary day. JRD not only changed the lives of all those who had come in touch with him but also contributed a great deal to the economic and social life of India.

Delivering the inaugural address at the JRD Tata Centenary celebration in New Delhi on August 24, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, referred to JRD's great contribution to the formulation of `Bombay Plan' of 1944. He had played an exceedingly important role, along with G. D. Birla, Purshottamdas Thakurdas, Ardeshir Dalal, and John Mathai, in the formulation of this long-term plan for the country's economic development after the Second World War. "When we read it today, nearly 60 years later, we see how relevant many of the central propositions of the Bombay Plan remain," Dr Singh added.

The publication of J.R.D. Tata Letters, compiled and edited by Mr Arvind Mambro (published by Rupa & Co; Pages 504; Price Rs.495), is, undoubtedly, a unique and wonderful tribute to the memory of this great son of India.

This first compilation of 300 letters out of some 40,000 JRD wrote in his lifetime, reveal various fascinating facets of his personality, his relationships with people, the projects he was involved in, his views on various issues, his kindness, forthrightness and sense of humour, his concerns as a citizen, the values he lived by, and his personal interests.

The range and depth of his interests and concerns are reflected in the huge cross-section of people these letters are addressed to: family members, his colleagues in Tata, business associates, ministers and bureaucrats, friends in India and abroad, as swell as to others who were not known to him. He took every letter even from strangers seriously.

Mrs Sudha Narayan Murthy, who was a student at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1974 saw an advertisement for the post of an engineer in Telco (now Tata Engineering) with a line at the bottom: "Lady candidates need not apply." In a fit of anger she shot off a post-card to JRD expressing surprise at the discrimination from a such progressive group as Tata and forgot all about it. She fondly recalls: "Within ten days, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco, Pune at their expense." She got the job. She writes: "I consider JRD a great man because, in spite of being an extremely busy person, he valued one post card written by a young girl, who was asking for justice and questioning him.

He must have received thousands of letters every day. He could have thrown mine in a dustbin. But he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity to work in his company. He did not merely give her a job, but also changed her life and mindset forever."

Divided into seven sections, the collection contains letters to eminent political and economic personalities, scientists and artists of his time including Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajgopalachari, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, Henry Kissinger, G. D. Birla, Shri Ram, David Rockefeller, J. K. Galbraith, Homi Bhabha and Yehudi Menuhin — people who have played a prominent role in contemporary world history.

The collection also includes JRD's correspondence with his parents, shedding light on the intimate and distinctive relationship that they shared.

Some of the letters addressed to political leaders and leading economists on the country's economic policy turned out to be prophetic. JRD was an ardent advocate of free enterprise and had a vision of a healthy partnership between public and private sectors, each concentrating on those fields for which it was best suited. He was against draconian controls on all activities of private sector companies that acted as a major constraint on the country's economic growth and prosperity.

In a letter to Jayaprakash Narayan, in January 1955, who was then a convinced Marxist, he wrote: "I must confess that I do not share your understanding of the capitalist system or its place in history... . I believe that in most part of the world the system of free enterprise, far from dying, will be given a new lease of life in recognition of its ability and willingness to serve the community well and also from a revulsion against the unpleasant reality — as distinct from the myth of state socialism."

This was 35 years before the collapse of Berlin wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. A decade later, even conservative China began opening its doors. India took much longer to do away with the licence-permit raj and launch the process of liberalisation and globalisation.

In a letter to Dr V. K. R. V. Rao in November 1964, in response to his invitation to participate in a Round Table discussion on Economic Growth and Social Justice, JRD expressed anguish over the innumerable restrictive laws and ordinances, endless and all-pervasive controls and an ever- proliferating bureaucracy to administer them. "As a result, instead of prosperity combined with social justice, we have today acute shortages and inflation coupled with rampant tax evasion and black markets," he pointed out.

At the same time, he did not spare the private industrialists and businessmen who indulged in unethical business practices.

He frankly admitted that the Indian private industry's poor, or in places downright bad, public image was due far more to the depredations and unethical practices of some its members than to its deficiencies in the use of its resources.

Apart from being efficient producers, he wanted private companies to shoulder some social responsibilities, particularly towards the welfare of the communities in the midst of which they were established.

Family planning and population problem remained his life-long concern. As early as in January 1959 he had written to Nehru expressing concern over the problem as he felt that it presented the most serious obstacle in the country to rapid economic and social progress.

He also wrote on the subject, among others, to Dr Sushila Nayar (Gandhian social worker and Union Health Minister 1962-67) in July 1964; Dr. Karan Singh in October 1974; and Rajiv and Gandhi in April 1988. He received the UN Population award in 1992.

Many of the letters included in this volume, to political leaders and policy-makers reflect his life-long concern over the wrong policies of the Government over the years that turned out to be the roadblocks on the path of country's rapid economic development and poverty alleviation. In a letter to P. N. Haksar (Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister 1972-73) dated September 26, 1984, JRD wrote: "I began my 55-year career as an angry young man because I couldn't stomach the foreign domination of our country. I end it as an angry old man, certainly not because I didn't grow wealthy or powerful; not even because Tatas were prevented from serving the country and enriching its economy to the full extent of their capacity and will, but because it simply breaks my heart to see the continuing miserable fate of the vast majority of our people, for much of which I blame the 35 years of ill-conceived economic policies of our Government."