Ratan Tata is one of the most well-known and popular business leaders in India. He is known not only for his business acumen but also for his wisdom and grounded nature. His social media posts frequently go viral, as did his Instagram post where he paid tributes to Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of what we know today as the Tata Group of companies.
In his post, Ratan Tata shared an old photograph of his younger self along with his mentor JRD Tata (screengrab below) and recalled Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata on his death anniversary. Jamsetji Nusserwanji is known as the Father of Indian industry and was famously referred to as the One-Man Planning Commission by Nehru. Not only did he set up the Tata company which is today the biggest Indian conglomerate, but he also founded the town of Jamshedpur in present-day Jharkhand.
There is an interesting story about how the Taj Mahal hotels were started by Jamsetji Nusserwanji. He was born in 1839, so he lived his entire life and died (in 1904) in British occupied India. In one incident, he was denied entry into a hotel because only white people were allowed and this made him resolve to open up a grand hotel of his own. The result was the Taj Mahal hotel on the Colaba waterfront in Mumbai. At the time it was the only Indian hotel to have electricity and to date is one of the most iconic hotels in the country.
Today, Indians use numerous Tata products in their daily lives. It is one of the most abiding and trusted brands in India: producing iron & steel, power, cars, communication and consultancy services, financial products, clothing, FMCG, electronics, an airline, hospitality etc. Tata also tied up with the international brand to bring us Starbucks and took over iconic international brands like Jaguar and Land Rover.
Tata products are generally seen as being of standard good quality, but more importantly, the companies are also known to treat employees well. Tata was the first Indian company to give employees medical services, a provident fund, maternity benefits, gratuities, accident insurance schemes and eight-hour shifts. Many of these provisions were then made into law by the Indian government after independence.
One of the things that the Tata companies and the Tata family are well known for is philanthropy in the tradition that Parsis, particularly Parsi businesses are known for. Jamsetji Nusserwanji himself was a philanthropist and so were his successors. JRD Tata, Ratan Tata’s mentor invested in hospitals such as the Tata Memorial and contributed to medical research.
Ratan Tata himself is known to carry on the tradition of philanthropy by creating scholarships, funding research and educational institutions. So when Ratan Tata shares a post about the founding father of the Tata Group, people take notice – not only of what he says but also the historical context of the Tata brand and its contribution to nation-building.
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