Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

A close look at a legend

`Forever Jeh' is a collection of interviews with people who were associated with JRD Tata

INSPIRED Surekha Tenneti Venugopal

JRD Tata left indelible impressions. Not only as an astute businessman who instinctively sensed opportunities, but as a leader who cared and a friend who could be counted upon in any crisis. And to call JRD iconic solely on the strength of his varied contribution to industrial growth, is to ignore what he meant to the numerous people whose lives he touched.

While writing "Forever Jeh", which takes a close look at the legend through the eyes of those who have known him over an extended period of time, Surekha Tenneti Venugopal was careful not to be carried away by the grandeur of his achievements. Married to a Tata Steel engineer and having been a columnist for "TISCO News" she herself has had a ringside view of JRD's versatility and commitment to a rigorous work culture.

Humility

The book, which is set as a collection of interviews with people who were associated with JRD, gives fresh evidence about the admirable qualities that he is known to have possessed — such as "an amazing lack of pomposity". According to Surekha's interviewees, JRD would patiently stand in the queue for a buffet and had a disposition to call a spade a spade.

"He looked beyond labels and his eyes penetrated right through to the intrinsic value of human beings," says Surekha. An incident convinced Charles Verghese, superintendent of TISCO House, that JRD cared for his employees. On board a flight, he asked Verghese to tell his personal attendant to start for the airport 10 minutes after take-off. He did not want the personal attendant to be waiting for him.

As a young officer in the company, Muthuraman, now managing director of Tata Steel, was fortunate to be invited to the inauguration of the National Institute of Advanced Studies.

He and another young officer wanted to take photos with JRD. With a great deal of hesitation, they expressed their wish. Not only did JRD readily comply with the request, but also waited half-an-hour for the absconding photographer to return. Muthuraman rose up the Tata ladder and was posted as Director of Marketing in Calcutta. When JRD visited the Tata Centre in the city, he asked Muthuraman what he was doing. The latter was happy to reveal his new designation. But JRD persisted with the question, "Yes, but what are you doing now?"

Surekha says designations meant little to him, and he always sought to find out how someone was contributing to the organisation. JRD was a great leader who "fashioned men out of his own book" she says. The employer-employee equation never interfered with his natural affection.

Russi Lala, author of the acclaimed biography on Tata `Beyond the Last Blue Mountain', says "I miss his affection."

PRINCE FREDERICK

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail