Remembering Jamsetji Tata on his 184th birth anniversary

The Indian Institute of Science was Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata's brainchild. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

Sir Ardeshir Dalal ICS, Dr. V. K. R. V. Rao, former Union Minister of Education, K.R. Narayanan, former President of India, Raja Ramanna Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Jayant V. Narlikar, the Astro-Physicist of Hoyle-Narlikar fame, Jamshed J. Irani, former Director, Tata Sons Limited and Yezdi H. Malegam who headed S. B. Billimoria & Co, have something in common, besides hugely impressive achievements in their chosen fields. Each of them, along with another 5,400 Indians, have been recipients of the JN Tata Endowment Fund. Given the stature of most of them, it is probably fair to say they would have got where they did even without it. But surely, the scholarship established in 1892 by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, helped.

The man after whom it is named did much more to promote education, particularly scientific and technical. The Indian Institute of Science, ranked among the world's best research institutions, was his brainchild, an idea that consumed him through his life though it finally came into being five years after he had died in 1904. And this was in a hopelessly poor country bent under the yoke of a colonial power. No wonder, his contemporary, Swami Vivekananda wrote: “We are not aware if any project at once so opportune and so far-reaching in its beneficent effects was ever mooted in India, as that of the postgraduate research university of Mr Tata. The scheme grasps the vital point of weakness in our national well-being with a clearness of vision and tightness of grip, the masterliness of which is only equalled by the munificence of the gift with which it is ushered to the public.”

That such a singular feat was only one small part of J.N. Tata’s genius is evidence of what an extraordinary man he was. Born on March 3, 1839, in “one of the tiny bylanes in Dasturwad (in Navsari, Gujarat)”, he was at once a visionary and a builder, a rare combination. His vision extended to linking Bandra and Worli by sea and building a world class hotel in Mumbai city. The iconic Taj Mahal Hotel opened its doors to its first 17 guests on December 16, 1903, though the sealink took a bit more time coming.

His many other achievements, though equally mind boggling, bear little recounting. He set up the Tata Group, which lends its name today to products ranging from salt to steel, software to airlines. In his lifetime, he put in place plans to make iron and steel and generate hydroelectric power in the country. With the belief that steel was essential to India’s development, he pursued the idea relentlessly, overcoming the scepticism of many.

In his book The Creation of Wealth, author R.M. Lala writes that when the then British chief commissioner of the Indian Railways, Sir Frederick Upcott, heard about the Tata plan to make steel, he famously remarked: “I will undertake to eat every pound of steel rail they succeed in making.” He obviously underestimated J.N. Tata’s resolve and while production at the plant in Jamshedpur began only in 1912, there was no question that it came about thanks to J.N. Tata’s persistence.

His son, Dorabji Tata, under whose watch the plant finally started producing steel, is reported to have said that if Sir Frederick Upcott had lived up to his word, he would have had ‘some slight indigestion’. What would have given J.N Tata equal satisfaction was that Dorabji also adhered assiduously to his father’s instructions: “Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens. Reserve large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Christian churches”.

Those instructions sum up the man and his dreams for India. There was a generosity of heart and a compassion for people which ensured that his entrepreneurial objectives transcended profits for himself. As Peter Casey writes in his book on the Tata group titled The Greatest Company in the World: “Unlike most entrepreneurs, Jamsetji started a business as a way to make other things possible, not because he was particularly inspired by cotton or textiles.”

Not surprisingly, when in June 2021, Edelgive Hurun India prepared the first-ever list of the previous century’s most generous philanthropists, Jamsetji N. Tata was ranked number one, ahead of Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffet, Henry Hughes and George Soros. His philanthropic giving was valued at $102.4 billion.