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| | Horizons
The Tata India Century 1904-2004
Aman Nath and Jay Vithalani
India Book House
2005
Pages: 358
Price: Rs 3,000
ISBN: 81-7508-431-6
Format: Large all colour, coffee table
Hardcover
Business histories - that boring genre where one is left reading reams of stuff on how the deal for manufacturing ball bearing was struck in the face of competitors, complex legislations, corrupt bureaucrats… - you get the idea?  But take a cursory look at Horizons, and you'll be forced to change your opinion. Both in content and presentation, the book matches the best of international standards. Though in the coffee table format in terms of size and richness of visuals used, the text is actually where the real value of the book lies. For rarely has a hundred years of Indian history been captured with such detailing, touching upon almost every significant event or trend of the last century.
But perhaps what helps it in achieving the standards it does is the subject itself. The Tata name has over the years come to be known much more as a synonym for trust than wealth, and this finds ample reflection in the book. The drive, the verve, the spirit of this remarkable industrial house that invested in humans more than perhaps any other gets reflected in the numerous incidents and anecdotes mentioned in the book. The book takes 1904 as a watershed year for the Tatas - the year in which JN Tata died and JRD and NH Tata were born. These men between themselves shaped a destiny that not just affected them but millions of their fellow countrymen. The history of the Tatas runs parallel to that of India's not just because they manufactured steel, and much else as time went on, but also through institutes they helped set up - Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and National Centre for Performing Arts - each a pioneering effort that helped set the standards for the rest to follow. From the book:
1959 Tata
"A car for the people": Telco was one of the first companies which applied to manufacture an economy car for India. Auto Union, A subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, had agreed to license production of the DKW light car at Jamshedpur. The plan was to produce 12,000 units a year, and involved a capital expenditure of Rs 140 million. The car was to sell at Rs 6,950 ex-factory. Mercedes cars were lent to senior government officials - KB Lal, Krishna menon - to impress upon those in power the excellence of German engineering, but no decision was forthcoming. Daimler-Benz eventually built its plant in Singapore instead, and it was as late as 1977 that Telco's first commercial vehicle rolled out. |
Each year from 1904 to 2004 has been discussed separately on a double page spread - the page on the left highlighting the important events in India that year, while the one on the right traces turmoil and times of the Tatas. Yes even the troubles - the run-ins with the government, personal tragedies - are elaborated, rare in this genre. The book has numerous photographs that most will never have seen before - and not just the Tata family portraits. There are images of the one anna coin, introduced in 1907, of English women in sola hats on a cheetah hunt, of Gandhi as a barrister, the 1911 Delhi Durbar, the delightful Maharaja ads for Air India, the Tata boardroom, of numerous Indian icons - the list just goes on… What also mesmerize are some of the panoramic views - of dams in the Western Ghats, of tea estates in Munnar, of the Tata house, Of Jamshedpur before its industrial hub - and when it did, the Howrah Bridge, the salt works at Mithapur. The book has visuals of letters, documents, plans, newspapers, cartoons, will and codicils - bringing an authenticity to the text that is both rare and delightful. Extensively researched, the language of the book is easy, light, and should interest every type of reader, not just one interested in corporate history. Many an incident is related, bringing out the complex ways which progress has taken, and occasionally stymied. Even for those not interested in the Tatas, as an encyclopedia on India, the quality of the book will not be easily matched. Though how the two can be separated in the 100 years under discussion is yet to be seen! |
