The Tatas: How a Family Built a Business and a Nation

by Girish Kuber, Girish Kuber, Vikrant Pande (Translator)

The Tatas is the story of one of India's leading business families. It starts in the nineteenth century with Nusserwanji Tata - a middle-class Parsi priest from the village of Navsari in Gujarat, and widely regarded as the Father of Indian Industry - and ends with Ratan Tata - chairman of the Tata Group until 2012. But it is more than just a history of the industrial house; it is an inspiring account of India in the making. It chronicles how each generation of the family invested not only in the expansion of its own business interests but also in nation building. For instance, few know that the first hydel project in the world was conceived and built by the Tatas in India. Nor that some radical labour concepts such as eight-hour work shifts were born in India, at the Tata mill in Nagpur. The National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Tata Cancer Research Centre, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - the list about the Tatas' contribution to India is a long one. A bestseller in Marathi when it was first published in 2015, this is the only book that tells the complete Tata story over two hundred years.

Genres: Biography, Business, India, History, Nonfiction, Marathi, Audiobook

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Krishna Chaitanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tata group was founded by Jamsetji Tata who's a nationalist having an ambition to create social wealth in country through business. The same culture has been abided by the Tata group for over 150 years, putting nation and employees first over their business.

True inspiration for countrymen.

[Siddharth Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was the book sponsored by the Tatas? Almost looked like it. Not one word of criticism or critical analysis of any kind. Actually scratch that, the book is reverential toward the Tatas. The author elevates the Tatas to a status akin to some demigod.

Don’t get me wrong. The Tatas are a great industrial house, one which every industrialist worth his salt, admires and envies in equal measure. Lest this review be construed as a gutter inspector’s report, the book is episodically exhaustive, tracing the Tata family history from the beginning. But the largest industrial house in the country, has not one bad apple. Not one controversy. Not one negative issue worth elaborating upon? Even episodes in popular memory like the Nira Radia controversy or the Mistry-Tata fight are passingly mentioned, as if they were issues not worth the reader’s time.

In conclusion, pick the book up only if you want to read some grandstanding eulogy of the Tata Sons.

[Benjamin Uke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tatas are what would happen if you combined both the Carnegie's and Rockafellers for India. The book chronicles how each generation of the family invested not only in the expansion of its own business interests but also in nation building over 200 years.

The writer, Girish Kuber is the editor of Loksatta and a regular columnist in the Indian Express. He is also the author of six books in Marathi. He lives in Mumbai. I don't know enough to tell if its propaganda or not.

[Lubinka Dimitrova · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a person like myself who has only a vague idea about the role the Tatas play and have played for more than a century in building Indian corporate culture, industry, society and so much else, this book was a good primer. But I found it way too flattering, lacking any critical approach to controversial issues that the conglomerate faced at different stages of its evolution. Always claiming that they conducted all their business with the utmost perfection, whereas everyone else is mired in scandals and corruption, well, this was not really always convincing, and it actually detracted from the admiration one might feel for a company that has been a major pillar in Indian history. Still, a good book with plenty of interesting details.

[Prachiti Talathi Gandhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always appreciate reading about Tata - True business house in India. Recently someone gifted me a book about Tata in Marathi language. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Tata and their businesses. The book is very focused on business and growth of Tata Group. Author has handled all the details very well. It is written in a simple language. This book gives information from Nursewanji Tata, founder of Tata empire till Ratan Tata, who retired recently and now Mr. Cyrus Mistry is heading Tata group.

Tata always had amazing business sense, but they never focused only on profit. For all leaders from Tata group put people first. They always considered all their employees as their family. Always treated janitor and CEO with the same warmth. Tata's were always ahead of time in their business decision. For investors in Tata companies, Tata is equal to trust. Sometimes Tata spent from their own pocket to retain that trust of investors.

Entire business community had faith in Tatas. It is very rare that entire family shares the same passion and vision for business as the founder. Tata is one of them.

Truly inspiring book.

[Sharad Pawar]

This is an excellent book written on Tata. This book expresses complete life story of JRD. In this book, we can see how the great man work and style of life.

[Gourang Ambulkar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written. Though I would have liked to read more details about Cyrus Mistry's sudden removal , but understandably, true to the Tata ethos of not harvesting bitterness, it was glosses over. Must read for every Indian to understand the qualities of a true Indian.

[Suraj Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tatas traces the 200 year old legacy of India’s one of the biggest business families. Right from the birth of Nusserwanji in 1822 to the present chairman Natrajan Chandrasekaran, this book encapsulates the journey that the Tatas have undertaken. Parallel to the story of the Tatas runs the story of India, so that the book depicts how the building of a business impacted the building of a nation.

The book begins by capturing the toddler steps taken by Nusserwanji, then moving on to the pace and firm grounding provided by Jamsetji and finally the long strides taken by JRD Tata and Ratan Tata. The account of the family and its business skills presented here in this book is awe-inspiring. Rising from the regional to the national and finally to international level amidst the occasional crisis arising from within the group and sometimes without, the Tatas represent the power of conviction.

I was not sure about this book and I thought it would be boring because of being all-facts. But I was wrong. The book is a page-turner and one feels like watching a movie or a documentary on the subject. And that makes me say that the translation (from the original Marathi) has been done brilliantly. It always felt as if I were reading an original work.

There are several bits of information about the Tata family and personal lives of the famous Tata figures. These peeps into the lives of the members of the Tata family formed an interesting part of the narrative and sought to break the monotony of what is otherwise an historical account. The book is written within a broad chronological framework but the author does move to and fro in time and space within the chapters, which worked really well for me.

I feel the author’s account of the history was objective to a large extent, especially the period before JRD Tata. However I feel that in the later period, that is, the contemporary times, the Tatas were being presented in an all-good-and-always-good light. I maybe wrong but this is what I felt. Besides that I feel that had there been more of personal stuff, the book would have been even more interesting. Nevertheless it was a great read for me and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My Rating: **** (4/5)

~Originally published on Https://booksnmyself.wordpress.com

[Akshat Dwivedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tatas, known as the most ethical enterprise in India, had always been something I found hard to believe. Nevertheless, this book has completely erased my speculations with logical and core facts. The grandeur of visionary ideas that transformed economic shape of post Independent India had never been compromised with moral values that Tata companies honoured. Although, political crisis was very often stumbled upon them but this didn't deter the Tatas. Tatas are the only Indian name taken in stalwarts of management studies like Harward, standford and Britain often confuses Tata to be their home company. The difference between Tatas and other businesses is that social wealth is the cause and not the effect of establishing any business here. The institutions like IISc, TISS, TIFR, numerous trusts, etc dates back to days when CSR was not a compulsion. A large credit to economic superiority of our country, I believe, goes to the Tatas, thanks to their ever expanding missions and visions.

[Amulya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent start to get a historical perspective of the Tata group and it’s growth. The only good thing about the book is the informational value from the chronicling of events in the Tata history. Leaves a lot to be desired in terms of critical analysis of events, especially the controversial ones, the role of religion in the family’s choices, larger impact on economy etc.

[Purva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rtc

[Rohit Harip]

'Tatayan' is complete story of Tata Family. From Jamashedji Tata ; who was the founder of Tata Empire (he was contemporary to Rockefeller, a business tycoon from US who establishes the petroleum industry) to Ratan Tata ; who recently retired from the chair of president of Tata group in 2012. There is kind of negative feeling in common public against industrialist in India. especially after Independence , in nehruvian era there was a complete socialist hangover because of it everything which is capitalist is bad was the common notion in the society.
Tata industry is always exception to this. Without Tata group of Industries it was impossible to fulfill the dream of Pundit Nehru of modern India. Tata family is bounted freely with the vision of technology and innovations.
Today Tata has occupied every house of India from slum to multi storied towers. you can see the Tata products. Tea, Salt, Steel, Watch, Car , Truck, Mobile in every household and list is never ending.
Apart from this productions noteworthy thing of Tata family is they had never forget their roots and social responsibility. Their contribution in the establishment of Indian Science Institute, Atomic research center, Tata institute of Social science and so many is very much Important.
this complete saga of Tata's is beautifully narrated by author Girish Kuber (editor of Loksatta). According to best of my knowledge this is only book which can depict the story of TATA family among all Indian Languages.

[Prakhar Prateek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would be working for Tata company soon and figured I should learn more about the family. The family is different from the traditional industrialist family. It is not just a business story but the story of India and its growth.



The Tatas and their companies stood the test of time because they are driven by values, not just a quick payday. Nowadays, words like triple bottom line and ESG are thrown around in the business world. But the family figured out their importance ages ago.

They have always tried to enrich their stakeholders in all their interactions. People consider it a royalty brand because they have focused on shared value creation rather than maximising profits. Conventional business strategies are not sustainable over generations.

From being an instrument to creating institutions like IISc and TISS to starting businesses like Air India, Tata Steel, Taj, Titan and TCS. All the companies are considered the leader of their markets.

Also, you get a perspective of the Indian Industrialist on India's different policies and political ideologies.

[Shrinivas Devshatwar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and interesting writing which is must for business books. Sometimes the content is repeated while describing each Tata characters individually.
The writer should have explained the relationships between Tatas more thoroughly. I was quite confused about "Ratan Tata" since there are three of them in this book.

[Animesh Mohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

First audiobook- liked the podcast like narrative, although it is much easier to read than to listen as I felt sleepy after an hour or so!
The book is an interesting read, but reads more like an officially sanctioned document. It takes particularly light view of the Nano-Singur controversy and pretty much glances over the Cyrus Mistry episode without providing accurate details. Would recommend it as a source of knowledge about some prominent nation builders in our history, but don't read it if you are looking for a comprehensive historical document.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a population of 1.38 billion and the fifth largest economy in the world, India is a giant among nations. Yet a single family has played an outsize role in building the economic engine that makes India what it is today. In no other large nation has any family loomed so large in modern history as the Tata family has in India. Their two-century story is the subject of newspaper editor Girish Kuber’s eye-opening 2019 biography, The Tatas.

BUILDING ONE OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BUSINESSES—AND MUCH MORE
The sheer number of businesses the Tata family has built over the years is extraordinary and includes many of India’s most iconic institutions. All told, the Tatas have established more than 100 companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, Tata Motors (including Jaguar and Land Rover), Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels Company (including Taj Hotels), Tata Power Company, and Air India. Every one of these businesses is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The Tata Group as a whole employs 935,000 people and has a current market cap of $311 billion.

But two-thirds of the Tata Group’s stock is held by various philanthropic trusts established by the family. The pioneer industrialist who founded the firm, Jamsetji Tata (1839-1904), set the pattern for the family. He himself gave a total equivalent today to more than $100 billion in his lifetime, making him the world’s most generous philanthropist (yes, even more so than Bill and Melinda Gates). To date, the family’s many trusts have contributed a total of $832 billion to charity. No other institution comes even remotely close to that record.

PRACTICING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Tata family enterprises are extraordinary in another respect as well. Some people who found successful companies turn to philanthropy late in life after having amassed fortunes through cut-throat competition. By contrast, the Tatas have always placed humane values at the top of the agenda in running their businesses. For example, the family pioneered “the world’s earliest worker welfare policies.” And they consistently treated their employees well over a century and a half of operations. The Tatas practiced Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) nearly a century before the term came into use.

UNFORTUNATELY, THIS BOOK IS DEEPLY FLAWED
Girish Kuber writes in Marathi, a language spoken largely in southwestern India. The book has been translated into English. Unfortunately, the result is an account that reads as though it was written by an adolescent who learned English as a third language. Clearly, the translator was not a native English speaker. The book is full of awkward phrasing and grammatical errors. To make matters worse, the translator sprinkled exclamation marks throughout the text, as though some unremarkable declarative sentence every page or two deserves wide-eyed attention.

It’s also notable that the author barely mentions the Tata family’s religion. They are Zoroastrians—originally, ethnic Persians called Parsis in India. Although some of the major figures in the family over the past century and a half have married outside their faith, most have not. And it’s a mistake to overlook the influence that the Parsi emphasis on charity has played in their commitment to using their accumulated wealth to benefit the Indian public.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Girish Kuber is an Indian journalist and author who is the author of at least five books. He writes in Marathi. Kuber is the editor of the daily Marathi-language newspaper, Loksatta. The paper’s reported circulation is around 347,000. The Indian Express Group publishes the paper in nine cities in the state of Maharashtra, India, including Mumbai and Pune.

[Shreshtha Srivastav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Among the books that you will feel sad, they finished!

It’s not easy to capture a 100-year-old empire into a few pages – esp. the eminence, the mettle, and the nation builders i.e. The Tatas.

My personal take - no institution can be built without a vision, an eye at the larger picture - but very few have the eye for ameliorating their country along with profits; and even fewer have the proficiency to club philanthropy with business. Girish Kuber has beautifully distinguished between charity and developing social wealth, the latter requiring clarity of principles and goodwill combined. Tatas’ as leaders are well known of using their personal investments in the times of need, Tata Trusts in general being single-handedly responsible in turnarounds of various companies and beleaguered assets.

Even fewer organizations can develop generational leaders, albeit with their different leadership styles, but with the same working values – be it the Bhishma Pitamaha himself, Jamsetji Tata or – Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy, JRD Tata - the industrialist of a century! Their dreams often exceeded their lives, but in JRD’s words himself, “there is joy not always in achievement, but also in trying to achieve”.

Another smaller take I gathered is the fact that not many translated books are so well narrated. This book truly inspired and invigorated me, like the author’s preface predicted, esp. with me being in HR, and appreciating the pioneering of multiple social & welfare initiatives of Tatas for their employees at a time no one thought about them.

The tone of the book changes from information to author’s opinion as the book progresses, with it ending in an interview of Ratan Tata himself - the true craft & tact of GK as a journalist coming out:). I would truly recommend this read - an illustrious one, featuring the legacy of one of India’s most valuable conglomerates.

[Praveen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like millions of Indians, I too truly admire Tata Group. One business house who were truly part of all the changes which India has undergone in past two century and truly demonstrated what are capitalists’ social responsibilities. A business house which never wanted to be a biggest or richest business conglomerates but always believes in giving back to society and people.

“Building business, grow them and create social wealth.”

This book is a brilliant work by Girish Kuber (Vikrant Pande – Translator) which traces the 200-year legacy of Tatas on their mission to build their business and our nation.
Well worth reading.

[Mugdha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provides a good overview of the Tata family history and their immense contribution to the economy and society over a period of 200 years. One of the rare examples of business empires creating social wealth in the true sense. The book explains the journey of the Tata group right from its first man to the present day leaders. The story is great and one feels engaged throughout. The book is insightful and it was nice to read about some many incidents and turn around projects that we have only heard of earlier. It provides insight into the Tata culture and how they stood for their values irrespective of the changing internal and external factors. What made me sad to know is the fact that the government did not play an enabler role for so many decades otherwise the country and the group could have scaled many more heights. The plight of Air India today is for everyone to see and I wonder how glorious it would have remained if it was still owned by the Tatas. There are many examples like these of govt takeover of industries and failures. My respect for the Tata grp has increased manifold after reading this book.

[Akshay Ratan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and insightful look into the legacy of the Tata empire, this book blends business history with human stories. A must-read for anyone curious about India’s most iconic industrial family.

[Pranita Bhat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring story behind the TATA name and ethos, and such a glimpse into the challenges of building businesses while developing a nation alongside politics-ridden governments.

But their dedication to creating social wealth and making that idea intrinsic to their company culture is a model to look up to for sure.

[Mehul Manoharan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more you read about the TATAS, the more you admire the legacy of this world renowned industrials that set out to build a nation as it stands today witness to the testimony of modern times, challenging the world order and economics.

A must read. Well written and a smooth read.

[Sneha Chavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful book to acquire knowledge about The TATAS. This book is the translation from marathi which is originally written by Girish Kuber and Translated in English By Vikrant Pande.

The book takes you all the way to the beginning days of Nussserwanji Tata to Natarajan Chandrasekaran a non - parsi Tata Chairman. Author has pointed out important events and histories which are awe inspiring.
This Book, significantly teaches reader to be grounded and to do something for the nation and be a helping hand in need which is always a tata culture. Thanks to JRD.

[Jagadeesh Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written biography of one of the most respected brands of the country. The entire book is gripping holding the readers attention.
The book speaks from the birth of TATA brand to the present day TATA, Various venues they ventured in, various challenges during the colonial era and after the independence, internal rifts among the group, what the leaders of the various generations did to make the group relevant to the society by venturing in to new technologies and new markets, how TATA’s are different from other conglomerates etc.
But I couldn’t see any sort of criticism of the group’s shortcomings or failures in the book. This makes me feel that Author is little inclined towards only the best part. However this is one of the best inspirational and informative books.

[Shruti · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most inspirational book read

[saumya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Industries evolution

The book very beautifully describe the industries evolution of 150yrs. A read that I enjoyed throughly and gained information about TATAs.

[Vitesh Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! The only book till now which has covered the whole history of the TATA group. Learnt many new things and new stories about TATAs. Really inspiring business story and kind of shows how business can be done with empathy for society around us. Details are well covered, though in some parts I felt the book is praising the TATAs a bit too much. Even then, overall it is a very good book. Being a person who has worked at TATA Steel, the story about setting up its first plant was very interesting.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narrative of Tata is inspiring. It is a tale which endorses the Indian tradition of upholding community values above individual gain. It is unbelievable that an enterprise could be built on such a philanthropic value system. Companies are customarily organised on two lines – either to make money for their shareholders or, in idealised socialist theory, to convey services for sections of the community. The story of Tata, is a story about a really inimitable company which was established to do both.

As to why this book was written, the author says:

“The Tata conglomerate is intricately intertwined in so many of India’s successes and firsts, and most of these, incredibly, have remained uncovered. Not many know that it was the Tatas who brought silk to Mysore or that they were the ones who got strawberries to Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in Maharashtra now synonymous with the fruit.

Not many are conscious, either, that the world’s earliest worker welfare policies were drafted in a Tata venture or that the Tatas were global pioneers in conceiving a hydroelectric project. Though much has been written about the Tatas, it has been more often than not from a corporate or industry-specific perspective, such as on Tata Steel or Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

My effort here is to tell the human side of this business story, from the common man’s point of view, without resorting to jargon and mind-boggling numbers.”

Yet, numbers do play a vital role. By the 1930s, the Tatas were providing 72 percent of India’s requirement of steel, covering the gamut from defence applications, to the railways and iconic projects like the Howrah Bridge. 23,000 tonnes, or about 85 percent of the steel used to build the bridge that defines the Kolkata skyline to this day, came from Jamshedpur.

This role intensified after 1947. A newly independent India needed an agricultural and industrial revolution, neither of which could happen without machinery and power, or Tata’s steel.

Steel was indispensable to manufacturing agricultural tools. It was crucial for speedily scaling down the import of capital goods — needed to industrialise India — from a brutal 90 percent in 1950 to about half of that in the 1960s. It was essential to building factories, dams and power plants. Much of it came from the Tatas, the largest steel maker in the country then.

They have come a long way, but their pivotal role in nation building hasn’t changed.

And it all germinated in 1822, when a toddler was born in a priestly household in Gujarat’s Navsari. ‘This boy is going to rule the world. He will be rich enough to build a seven-storey bungalow,’ prophesied the astrologer and quite predictably got a nice offering for himself. Young Nusserwanji knew early on that his destiny lay beyond his village and decided to head for Bombay to start a business. He had neither higher education nor knowledge of trade matters, just a flaming passion to whittle his own trail.

“What Nusserwanji started as a cotton trading venture, his son Jamsetji—born in the same year as Rockefeller—grew into a multifaceted business, turning around sick textile mills, setting up an iron and steel company, and building a world-class hotel. Stewarded ably over the decades by Jamsetji’s sons Dorabji and Ratanji, the charismatic and larger-than-life JRD, and thereafter the more business-like Ratan, the Tata group today is a 110-billion-dollar empire.
The Tatas is their story. But it is more than just a history of the industrial house; it is an inspiring account of India in the making. It

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had established Tata Group as a private trading firm in 1868. In 1902, the group incorporated the Indian Hotels Company to commission the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower; it was the first luxury hotel in the country.

In 1904, Jamsetji died and his son, Sir Dorab Tata took over as chair of the company. Under the guidance and leadership of Dorab, the group grew quickly, venturing into different industry segments like steel (1907), electricity (1910), education (1911), consumer goods (1917), and aviation (1932).

In 1932, when Dorab died, Sir Nowroji Saklatwala took the position. After six years, Jahangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata became the group’s chair. He took the company’s expansion on many new sectors including chemicals (1939), cosmetics (1952), marketing, engineering and manufacturing (1954), tea (1962) and software services (1968).

In 1945, Tata Group added another start in their sky by establishing Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company; it was renamed as Tata Motors in the year 2003. This company is involved in manufacturing engineering and locomotive products.

This book gives you a direct insight into the minds of four giants – Jamsetji, Sir Dorab, Nowroji Saklatwala and JRD. It is also a walk down India’s Industrial history.
If Jamsetji’s powerful vision inspired the steel and power industries in India, set the foundation for technical educaton, and helped the country leapfrog from backwardness to the ranks of industrialised nations, it was Sir Dorab Tata, who was instrumental in transforming his father's grand vision into reality. It was also Dorab’s leadership that the Tata Trust, the premier charitable endowment of the Tatas, was created, propelling the Tata tradition of philanthropy. Nowroji Saklatwala succeeded Dorabji as chairman of the Group. And it was JRD, who pioneered civil aviation on the subcontinent in 1932 by launching the airline now known as Air India. That was the first of many path-breaking achievements that JRD, who guided the destiny of the Group for more than half a century, came to be remembered for.

While turning over the pages of this book, you would almost feel trepidation, owing to the fact that here are the humane images of those people who have painstakingly carved a giant. With 500,000 orders being executed per second, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is the fastest stock exchange in the world. With more than 1,700 listed companies whose market capitalisation exceeds $2 trillion, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is not only India’s largest stock exchange by transaction volume but also among the top three bourses in the world. The only commonality they share is that their systems and software are invisibly driven by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the world’s second most valuable information technology company.

Entrepreneurship single-handedly can never be enough in a nation like India; it has to walk hand in hand with an obligation to society and country. This demands a frame of mind that makes room for social responsibilities that are rendered as expansively as possible. A convincing example of how such a two-pronged approach — entrepreneurial success balanced by societal obligations — can be found in the way the Tata Group, one of India’s biggest and most respected business conglomerates, has conducted itself.

Read the book to live the experience on your own.

[Divya Pal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing, in that there are no real revelations about the earlier Tatas, nothing about their origins, nothing about their Persian ancestors. The narrative starts at Navsari from where Nusserwan decides to forgo his hereditary priestly role and go to what is now called Mumbai:

Once in Mumbai Nusserwanji was drawn to cotton trading and set up his first venture with the help of a local banker and friend.

The beginning of the global Tata empire is just dismissed with this sentence. Who was the friend? How did the cotton trading business progress? Where did he get his cotton from? Who were the buyers? There are no answers. The shady opium business is glossed over. The JRD’s struggles with the Indian politicians and bureaucracy is rather Ayn Randesque. The pioneering work by Jamset Tata is set in detail. However, the book mainly deals with JRD Tata and Ratan Tata – facts about them are common knowledge. There is nothing new. The book is littered with contradictions and repetitions.
A more engaging books was OH! THOSE PARSIS.

[Nikhil Asawadekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

भारतीय उद्योगक्षेत्राविषयी जाणून घेण्याची इच्छा असणाऱ्या प्रत्येकाने वाचावं असं हे अप्रतिम पुस्तक. फक्त रतन टाटांबद्दल माहिती आणि अपरंपार आदर असूनही, सुरवातीला एका कुटुंबाविषयी असं पुस्तक वाचणं कंटाळवाणं होऊ शकेल का अशी शंका होती. पण भारताच्या प्रगतीला वाहून घेणाऱ्या ह्या कुटुंबाचा इतिहास अभिमानाने छाती फुलवून आणणारा आहे. कुबेरांनी सर्व टाटांच्या उद्योग-यात्रा, त्यांचा संघर्ष अतिशय सुंदर पद्धतीने लिहिला आहे. पुस्तक वाचताना रतन टाटा सोडले तर देशाच्या उद्योगक्षेत्राला आकार देणाऱ्या बाकी कुठल्याही टाटांबद्दल आपल्याला सविस्तर काहीच माहिती नव्हती ही गोष्ट मनाला खूप खटकत होती. नुसेरवान, जमशेटजी, जेआरडी, नोएल ह्यांच्यावरचे चॅप्टर्स आणि शेवटची रतन टाटांवरची दीडशे पानं तर ह्या सगळ्या कुटुंबाच्या सन्मानासारखी आहेत. कुठल्याही राजकीय शेरेबाजी ला वाहवत जाणारे आपण ह्या योग्य उद्योग सम्राटांचा यथोचित आदर करत नाही ही खंत भंडावून सोडते. तेव्हाच्या नेहरू-गांधींच्या तसेच मोरारजी देसाईंच्या गचाळ आर्थिक धोरणांचा, ममता दीदींच्या राजकीय नौटंकीचा देशाच्या उद्योग क्षेत्रावर कसा वाईट परिणाम झाला. त्यातून दरवेळी नैतिक मूल्ये जपून समस्येतून प्रत्येक टाटा कसे मार्ग काढायचे हे वाचणं खूपच रंजक आहे. गिरीश कुबेरांचे ह्या पुस्तकासाठी मनापासून आभार!