RUSSI LALA was a distinguished journalist, author, biographer, co-founder of the Centre for the Advancement of Philantropy and Director for 18 years of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the premier Tata trust that is at the core of a model that distinguishes the Tatas from all other business groups in the world.
In conversations with Business Editor Jagdish Rattanani spread over several sittings earlier this year, Lala shared his thoughts on the tenure of Ratan Tata as the Chairman of Tata Sons, commenting on personal and professional aspects of a leader who has driven the group for the last two decades. On a day Tata hands the mantle to Cyrus Mistry, Lala’s observations stand out and lend a unique perspective on Ratan Tata’s journey.
This turned out to be Russi Lala’s last piece and is being published here posthumously. Lala passed away on 19 October 2012. He was 84.
‘Ratan Tata kept his word and stepped down. I don’t know his successor, Cyrus Mistry, but what I hear from others is that Ratan has got a good man. Cyrus has not asked for this post; I have no doubt that he will do full justice to it.
The world will be more challenging in the future. And the new man will have to adapt himself to the changing environment. Some will argue that Cyrus has not shouldered such a big responsibility, that he has not traveled this road before. But that does not matter. Sometimes knowledge of the path is a help. Sometimes it’s a hindrance.
Ratan’s great love has been automobiles and Tata Motors. Sumant Mulgaonkar told me how he first brought Ratan to Tata Motors. In an interview some 20 years ago, Russi Mody claimed that Tata Motors wasn’t doing well and indicated that it would be better off under him. I met Sumant Mulgaonkar, who was head of Tata Motors then, after that interview. Mulgaonkar was red in the face.
I have never seen him so angry. He was furious. Mody didn’t realise what he was doing. Obviously, it was a light conversation, not a regular interview, in which he said this.
Mulgaonkar then decided to act. Overnight, Ratan was called back from Pune where he was, on a Saturday and on Monday was asked to take charge of Tata Motors. So Russi Mody had no chance. Ratan has done very well at Tata Motors as well as across the entire group. The group is, of course, very big and I must say he has succeeded.
That is the advantage of not having a wife! You use all your energy for your work. And the two dogs that Ratan has don’t talk very much. He talks to the dogs. They don’t talk back!
I asked Ratan what happened to the news
report that he had two chances of marriage, one to an American and another to a Parsee lady. Ratan replied: “One of them would ask me, ‘Why do you have to go to Bangalore?’ The other would ask, “Must you go to New York?’ I can’t operate that way. You have to be a free man.”
Like JRD, Ratan leads a very simple life except for his love of cars. I think he has three or four cars. But he had led a very lonely life. He has good friends. Some select friends he meets over dinner. Ratan took charge of the entire group in March 1991 and liberalisation came in July the same year.
So Ratan got the opportunity that JRD never had. JRD was always bound by rules and regulations of the pre-liberalisation era, and he would not take any shortcuts. But Ratan came in an era where there were no shackles. Of course, there are a lot of personality differences too. JRD was an extrovert; Ratan is less so. He talks more freely now but he is basically an introvert.
I have known Ratan since 1979. I first invited him for lunch with Frederik Philips, then Head of the Philips empire. He had just retired and Ratan was very grateful and glad to meet such a great business leader of that time. Those days Philips was among the top five global brands. I kept meeting Ratan even after that. It has been a long association.
JRD had charisma while Ratan acquired charisma over a time through his achievements.
Ratan is very confident now, particularly because he has achievements to speak of. If you ask me, one signal achievement that Ratan will always be known for is the ‘Nano’. He will also be remembered for advancing the group, diversifying it and at the same time making it more cohesive. This is really a lot to be proud of.
But above all else, Ratan has taken the group forward with integrity. This is the one trait he has in common with JRD. I maintain that if JRD were alive he would have been proud to see what Ratan has achieved. In that sense, Ratan has turned out to be more like JRD, which is really an achievement. That also means he has lived up to the hopes JRD had placed in him when he announced Ratan’s appointment as Chairman of Tata Sons on 25th March, 1991.
Two weeks later, on April 5, I met JRD just as he was going to Europe for an angioplasty. I asked him why he had chosen Ratan and ventured to ask if the choice was because of Ratan’s integrity. “Oh no, you can’t say that,” JRD told me. “That would imply that the other contenders lacked integrity.” JRD then added: “I think he will be more like me.”
Ratan was very close to his grandmother. She was the one who brought him to India. That is why he came here in 1962. He was happy in America and would not have come but for his grandmother. She was a steady influence in his life because Ratan’s parents were divorced. When she asked him to come to India, he could not say no.
Lady Ratan Tata was a very fine dignified lady. In the summer months, usually in May, she would be at Matheran. She would leave her bungalow in a hand-drawn rickshaw and come up to Rugby Point in Matheran every evening. She would be alone in the rickshaw with one person pulling it and another pushing it. She did not mix with people. You know, when you’re rich and well connected, you are very lonely.
The future of the Tata group is tied to the future of India and will depend on the future of India. In the end, I feel the Tata retirement policy is good. I feel for his own sake, if Ratan Tata wants to go, he should go. And that has happened. We must remember this was a very heavy burden to carry.’
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