New Delhi: Ratan Tata revealed how he faced “vicious criticism” when he took over as the chairman of the Tata group after J.R.D. Tata stepped down as the group chairman and chairman of Tata Industries and eventually from Tata Sons in 1991, with many people criticising the decision and accusing J.R.D. Tata of furthering nepotism.
In an interview with Humans of Bombay, Ratan Tata said, “There were other aspirants for that position, so there was quite a vocal set of issues, of him (J.R.D.) having made the wrong decision. I’d been through this before, so I did what I knew best — maintained a dignified silence and focused on proving myself”.
“If you were to find the publications of that time, the criticism was personal — J.R.D. got clubbed with nepotism and I was branded as the wrong choice,” he added.
In the second part of the three-part interview with the popular Facebook page that chronicles lives of people, Ratan Tata goes on to explain how his passion for architecture eventually became a hobby, as his primary and only focus was business, and he dedicated his life to it.
He also recounted that when he moved to India to spend time with his grandmother, he soon started interning at Tata Motors in Jamshedpur, which he initially thought was a complete waste of time.
“I was shuffled around from department to department, but nobody actually told me what to do! I guess, I was looked at as a family member, so no one said anything to me — but I spent 6 months just trying to make myself look ‘useful’,” he added.
It was only after he was shifted to Tata Steel that he got special assignments and his job became interesting for him.
(2/3) “After the move, I did get to spend some time with my grandmother. I would run with my dog, catch up with her car…
Humans of Bombay यांनी वर पोस्ट केले बुधवार, १९ फेब्रुवारी, २०२०
Understanding the ground reality
It was at this time that Ratan Tata learnt another lesson — when he worked at the ground level and understood the plight of those working around him.
“Years later, when we had to downsize Tata Steel from 78,000 people to 40,000 we made sure they were paid their present day wages until the day of retirement — it’s been an inherent part of our DNA to serve those who serve us,” he said.
Ratan Tata also said during the interview that the time he spent on the floor served as his “biggest plus” when he was “under a magnifying glass” and called a product of nepotism.
It was also when he became the chairman of the Tata group that his equation with J.R.D. reached a new dimension and he found a great mentor in him.
He told the older Tata, “J, I wish this had happened 10 years ago, we have such a great relationship.”
“He was like a father and a brother to me — and not enough has been said about that,” Ratan Tata added.
In the first part of the interview, Ratan Tata revealed how he was about to get married to someone whom he met in Los Angeles, but the 1962 war between India-China played a spoiler.
The third part of the interview isn’t out yet.
Disclosure: Tata Group’s chairman emeritus Ratan Tata is among the distinguished founder-investors of ThePrint. Please click here for details on investors.
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