Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
A peek into the world of Tatas
It was a chance to share more stories about India's most famous "T". With India's first company -- Tata -- opening up its doors for people to peek into myths, facts and family secrets at an exhibition being held in Delhi, this is stuff that never makes it into company annual report.
From Jamsetji Tata's little-known third son to Mumbai's favourite urban legend about the Taj Hotels, the exhibition provides the human face behind a company that occupies a prominent place in the industrial history of India.
"I like to compare our founder Jamsetji Tata with the father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. While Gandhi was India's political father, Jamsetji was the father of India's industry.
He realised that to maintain India politically it was important to have industry. The last year 2004 was an important year for us. It marks the death centenary of our founder as well as the birth centenary of two luminaries from the Tata cradle, JRD Tata and Naval Tata,'' claims T.R. Doongaji, Managing Director of Tata Services.
Titled "The Century of Trust'', the exhibition might be about the Tata story, but it is also about the history of India. One of the first few successful "swadesi" companies, the Tatas have managed to leave a mark on the pages of Indian history, but not only for their profitability.
Linking the growth of the company with the progress of the country, the Tatas believe that India and Tata are synonymous. The first company to venture into steel in pre-British, the Tata story is a classically inspirational - "perfect" material that young management graduates love to tell. However, the exhibition is not only about the company but also about the men who built it.
Not the usual managing directors spouting figures and educated in top business schools, Jamsetji Tata and JRD were dreamers. And the exhibition is really about these extraordinary dreamers and doers who had more challenging situations to deal with than just increasing profits.
"There is a famous story about Jamsetji Tata. He wanted to make his own cloth, so he travelled to Manchester where all the cloth from India came from during the British Raj. He asked what he would need to set up a mill in Nagpur. He was told it was impossible to make cloth there since it was too dry and he would have to import the weather from Manchester. He did just that. He got humidifiers which has become a norm for all mills now,'' remarks Mr. Doongaji.
And in true Tata style the exhibition has travelled to all the places that have a special place for the company. Kicking off with Bangalore where the Indian Institute of Sciences --the third son of Jamsetji -- the exhibition has travelled to Hyderabad, Kolkata and Jamshedpur before coming to the Capital.
Specially designed with modern-day technology to create the past, the exhibition has also recreated the tiny room where the founder was born in a village in Gujarat. And those who want to know more about India's first company should head towards Himachal Bhavan at Mandi House where the exhibition is on till January 23.
By Mandira Nayar
Photos: Rajeev Bhatt
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
|
