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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Harish Bhat
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March 19 - March 30, 2024
But none of my activities is one-sided, and as my religion begins and ends with truth and non-violence, my identification with labour does not conflict with my friendship with capital. And believe me, throughout my public service of thirty-five years, though I have been obliged to range myself seemingly against capital, capitalists have in the end regarded me as their true friend.
In South Africa, when I was struggling with the Indians there, in the attempt to retain our self-respect and to vindicate our status, it was the late Sir Ratan Tata who first came forward with assistance. He wrote me a great letter, and sent a princely donation—a cheque for Rs 25,000 and a promise in the letter to send more, if necessary.
Ratan Tata then made a few more contributions to the South African struggle, a total of five instalments between 1909 and 1912, taking the total amount he donated to Rs 1.25 lakh—a very large amount in those days. This
Xerxes Desai, founder of the Titan Company, is one of the most fascinating business leaders of our times.
Before he founded Titan in 1985, he had already worked with the Tata Group for over two decades, initially with the Taj Group of Hotels. Here, he had led the construction of the new tower of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai.
But it was in Titan that Xerxes Desai came into his own. He scripted the extraordinary launch of Titan watches, which took India by storm in 1987. This was a transformational event in Indian marketing history. With a dazzling range of new timekeeping designs which Indians had never experienced before, and the new technology that accompanied them, Titan soon established clear market leadership and won over the hearts and wrists of millions of Indians.
the heart of this success were Xerxes Desai’s vision and courage. He decided to launch only quartz watches in a market that knew only mechanical watches, because he firmly believed that quartz was a superior technology for accurate timekeeping. Also, quartz watches contained fewer components which allowed them to be slimmer than the mechanical watches, and hence, they were far more suited to sleeker and more fashionable designs.
But it faced a big challenge in finding hundreds of workers with the required skill sets for the complex segment of watch manufacturing. What the company did then was fascinating. It went to schools in the smaller towns and villages of Tamil Nadu looking for young boys and girls who had passed the class ten exam and were over sixteen years of age. It met the principals of these schools and convinced them that a job in Titan would be good for their students. No one had heard of Titan but the fact that it was a Tata company perhaps helped. Since this was the first time many of these young people
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Titan provided these youngsters with the intensive training that was required. Over the next few years, it amazingly transformed them into skilled watchmakers. The company also created for them a factory campus and a township, which are beautiful and energizing. Designed by the legendary architect Charles Correa and painstakingly landscaped by Xerxes Desai himself, these campuses at Hosur continue to be happy homes to thousands of Titanians.
Xerxes Desai retired from Titan in 2002. He continued his close association with the Titan School, which he had lovingly established for employees’ children, at Hosur. In fact, one of his last engagements, before his unfortunate demise in June 2016, was an interaction at his beloved school.
attended Xerxes Desai’s funeral, which was also held in Hosur. Thousands of people moved in a long, slow line behind the hearse as it wound its way from the watch factory to the dusty funeral ground. On that hot afternoon, it appeared that
as it is popularly called, is now enforced by law in India, and is an integral part of our monthly payslips. But did you know that Empress Mills was the first institution in India to introduce the concept of a provident fund, many decades before it was legally mandated? Way back in 1901, the mills established a provident fund scheme for its employees. In 1887, a gratuitous pension fund had been established, and, in 1895, an accident compensation scheme as well. To further help the workers, a cooperative credit society was also set up around the same time.
In 1895, speaking at the opening of a new extension of Empress Mills, which was by then a flourishing enterprise, he talked about the prosperity that the mill had begun enjoying, because of its top quality and excellent reputation with all stakeholders.
‘We do not claim to be more unselfish, more generous or more philanthropic than other people. But, we think, we started on sound and straightforward business principles, considering the interests of our shareholders our own, and the health and welfare of our employees the sure foundation of our prosperity.’
Jamsetji Tata, who founded these mills, has been called the father of Indian industry. He went on to achieve many great things for India, including the establishment of Tata Steel at Jamshedpur, the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, the Tata hydroelectric project in the Western Ghats and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. But it can be safely said that he began his life’s work at Empress Mills, Nagpur.
one small corner of Bangalore, in a place called the Tata Silk Farm.
Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, was convinced that the silk industry could be of great benefit to India because Indian conditions were suitable to cultivation of the silkworm. He believed that India could become famous for silk. During a visit to Japan in 1893, he was impressed by how well the Japanese had developed scientific sericulture, including intense care of the soil. He came back to India, determined to establish India’s finest silk manufacturing unit. Jamsetji chose Bangalore for his silk farm because the temperate climate in this city resembled that of Japan.
He imported reeling machinery from Japan to ensure the finest manufacture, and was happy to note that this equipment was simple, efficient and easy to use. Most importantly, he wanted local Indians to quickly become skilled in the business of making silk so that they could themselves build a flourishing local industry.
Very soon, from the agile fingers of Indians emerged silk of the highest quality. Silk woven in this farm was sent to Europe where experts declared it to be of very fine quality, and the best from India.
Many years later, in 1949, the Central Silk Board was also established in Bangalore, taking on the role of evangelizing the development and growth of the silk industry in India.
to Walwhan, a small, picturesque town nestled in the Western Ghats of India, not far from Mumbai city. Walk with me through lush green trees all the way to the magnificent dam that sits on the Indrayani River.
Here, in 1915, the Tata Group inaugurated the country’s most ambitious hydroelectric project to supply clean electric power to the city of Mumbai. A few years earlier, Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, had spoken about the heavy monsoon rains in the area and remarked, ‘All this water from the Western Ghats is wasted.
The great dam at Walwhan, built by Tata Power (then called the Tata Hydroelectric Supply Company), was a commendable engineering feat. This marvellous dam stood at a height of 86.5 feet, with a length of 4449 feet, and a dam volume of 64,00,000 cubic feet. It was only a little smaller than the original legendary dam on the Nile River, constructed at Aswan by Sir William Willcocks.
When Lord Sydenham laid the foundation stone of the dam in 1911, he rightly said of this giant venture: ‘It symbolizes the confidence of Indians in themselves, their willingness to be associated with a project that is somewhat unfamiliar in this country.’
It is pertinent to note here that Jamsetji Tata and his son, Dorabji Tata, did not ever hesitate to obtain the best global expertise in industrial matters such as the construction of dams because they knew that the India of that time needed people with the requisite technical knowledge.
At the inauguration, Dorabji paid tribute to three Western engineers, R.B. Joyner, Alfred Dickenson and H.P. Gibbs, whose dedicated efforts made this entire
Not only has this scheme supplied clean electric power to the city of Mumbai for over a century now, it has also actively engaged in the conservation of the mahseer, a fish which was on the verge of extinction and continues to be an endangered species. For over four decades now, Tata Power has successfully bred this fish in captivity in the Walwhan Lake. The hatchery breeds around 2.5 to 3 lakh baby fish each year and releases them back into the lake.
‘Tetley Tea, inventor of the tea bag and maker of the traditional English cuppa, is being bought by Tata Tea of India. The deal to buy the world’s second largest producer of teabags is worth 271 million UK pounds, and is the biggest acquisition in Indian corporate history.’
He had steered its transformation from a small tea plantation company to a branded tea major. This strategic effort was led by Darbari Seth, chairman of the company, and by KK.
Meanwhile, a management team, backed by venture capitalists and entrepreneur Leon Allen, was also keenly pursuing the acquisition of Tetley. They pulled ahead of Tata Tea by quickly arranging the funds required. In June 1995, Allied Domecq announced the sale of the Tetley tea business to this venture capital team. Tata Tea had come so close to achieving its global dream, but had unfortunately fallen short. KK
Each of us can hope to achieve our own audacious dreams if we persist, and learn, and persist.
The Jagersfontein Mine, located in South Africa, is one of the great diamond mines of the world. Discovered in 1870, it yielded over 9.6 million carats of beautiful diamonds over its lifetime.
Sir Dorabji Tata did not hesitate for a moment. He had to save the company so that it could survive the difficult times of that period. His wife, Meherbai, and he decided to pledge their entire personal wealth, which came to around Rs 1 crore (a huge amount in those days), to Imperial Bank to raise funds for Tata Steel. This included all the jewellery owned by his wife, including the Jubilee diamond.
The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust used these funds to establish the Tata Memorial Hospital and many other institutions including the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Indeed, this makes the Jubilee diamond unique—it is perhaps the only diamond in the history of mankind that has saved a steel company from collapse, protecting many livelihoods, and has then gone on to birth a cancer hospital as well. No diamond has served worthier causes, and this was only possible because of two wonderful hearts of gold.
In March 1964, speaking at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, J.R.D. emphasized the need to start a very different type of academic institution ‘for the most talented’ young Indians who could grow to leadership positions. In essence, he was reflecting upon the need for these young people to be trained not merely in the scientific spirit or in the humanistic arts, but in a rigorous combination of both worlds.
J.R.D. was a great admirer of the education system in France, and the benchmark in his mind was the French grande écoles. He was impressed that over 70 per cent of the top jobs in the French Civil Service and scientific institutions were occupied by graduates of these excellent institutions, which trained their students not merely in technical subjects, but also in ‘exceptionally severe moral and intellectual disciplines’.
Karan Singh said to me: ‘Jeh, what is this nonsense about mathematics? Do you mean to say that if this school of yours had been there when I was a college student, I would not have been admitted?’ All I could say was: ‘Well, Karan, if you were as poor at mathematics as I was, then neither you nor I would have been admitted.’ Dr Karan Singh did not take this too well. He threw the brochure on the table and said, ‘Nonsense.’ As a result of which the proposal was summarily rejected. So, unfortunately, the idea got dropped at the time. J.R.D. was undoubtedly upset but he was a determined man.
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Based on this recommendation, the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) was eventually established in 1988. It was located within the campus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, which itself had been established by Jamsetji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, nearly eighty years earlier. In many ways, NIAS is a sister institute to IISc, and perhaps also evokes Jamsetji’s original vision that ‘humanities’ are as important as the ‘sciences’ to raise the quality of life of the community.
It is this power of knowledge that is reflected in NIAS’s emblem. Designed by the renowned Indian sculptor Balan Nambiar, this logo has its roots in a remarkable ancient Sanskrit work called the Sulva Sutras, composed before the sixth century BCE. Using deep knowledge of geometry, it portrays how bricks can optimally be arranged for the creation of an altar.
Belief, resilience and perseverance are some of the finest human qualities that each of us can aspire for in our own lives.
India mourned its beloved son. There were rich tributes from across the world. Lord Curzon, the British viceroy, said: ‘No Indian of the present generation had done more for the commerce and industry of India.’
A view of the great dam at Walwhan near Lonavla.
Lady Meherbai Tata, a feminist icon, shown here wearing the magnificent Jubilee Diamond, which is twice as large as the legendary Kohinoor. This diamond was once used to save Tata Steel from collapsing.
J.R.D. Tata at the Juhu Aerodrome, Bombay, on 15 October 1932. The first historic commercial air mail flight of the Indian subcontinent had just landed, piloted by J.R.D. Tata himself. Seen in the photograph are (from left to right) Nusserwanji Gazdar, Capt. Homi Bharucha, J.R.D. Tata, Nevill Vintcent and two officials of the postal service. This is also the iconic photograph that Kalpana Chawla carried into space.
