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THERE are two ways you can become wealthy, the easy and the hard. If you're too self-respecting to be given money to get rich, and so would rather work for it, here is R. M. Lala for you with The Creation of Wealth, published by Penguin Books India (www.penguinbooksindia.com). It tells the story of the Tatas from the 19th to the 21st century, managing to be in demand almost two decades after first publication, in newer editions.

"There is a difference between making money for oneself and creating wealth for others. This is the story of a House that has created wealth for a nation. It is the story of a struggle, anxiety, adventure, achievement," reads the dedication page, elevating instantly the reader's vision from a narrow goal to a loftier one.

In his preface written in 1992, Lala writes: "Throughout history there have been two categories of people — those who create wealth and those who consume it. This century has given rise to a new category of people whose passion is to control the wealth others take the trouble to create. To consume or control wealth needs little qualification. To create wealth is a different proposition." But that was when liberalisation began, so the author devotes a whole section of the book to the years 1992 to 2003, punctuated by dramatic turnarounds.

"If words and slogans could create wealth, the streets of India would be paved with gold," he writes.

"A nation's wealth comes out of vision and hard work; out of anxious days and long unrewarded nights; out of courage that is ready for sacrifices; out of values cherished and battles fought for them; out of a compassion for human beings."

The book is a feast with Mario Miranda's illustrations that bring to life the story — beginning from the birth of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata in 1839 in a family of Parsi priests.

One of his last messages, before he died in 1904, to his family members was to carry forward the work he had started: "If you cannot make it greater, at least preserve it. Do not let things slide."

In a chapter titled `the cult of excellence', Lala paints the portrait of Sumant Moolgaokar, "the man who made Telco what it is today". For him, there was no chalta hai; "he expected and obtained standards of excellence and precision and passed it down the line to managers, supervisors and workers."

Shoddiness and carelessness are not god-given ways of life, he would say. "You ask our men for their best, they rise to a belief in their work and create a momentum towards improvement." Thus men who are considered ordinary rise to extraordinary heights.

"Do not accept second rate work; accept the best and ask for it; pursue it relentlessly and you will get it." The best quality inspector is the conscience. His successor was Ratan Tata. In his epilogue, reflecting on "the ten-odd years as the chairman of the group", Ratan would write: "What I would like to leave behind is a group which is more institutionalised rather than personalised like it was in Jeh's time. And a group which could continue to operate and grow effectively, irrespective of who the leader might be."

He talks of how he re-established Tata Sons as "the focal point of the group with a level of equity holding to enable it to exercise some degree of control over the individual operating companies while honouring their autonomy." This was not a pleasant development for many of the operating companies that had operated on their own, he concedes.

"A central mandate was an imposition because there were multiple companies in the same business competing with each other; these were companies that had operating styles which reflected the personal style of their chief executives; and there were companies that imbibed the Tata values as also that flouted them."

Candid talk, and the latest move of Tata Sons to transfer its ownership to TCS seems to be a reversal of the above stand, especially when Ratan places "an enormous amount of future destiny" on telecom and IT. A saga of enterprise, that is not to be missed.

ManageMentor@TheHindu.co.in

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