Entrepreneur shares how goddess Lakshmi inspired JRD Tata to come up with 'Lakme'

Entrepreneur and Artery India CEO Arvind Vijay Mohan recently shared during a podcast how the cosmetics brand Lakme got its name and the role of legendary industrialist JRD Tata in its making.

A video of the story which Mohan shared on Instagram has been doing rounds on other social media platforms as well. In it, he narrates how 12 years after taking over the Tata empire, JRD Tata received a call from the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1950. "It was a busy day at work when the phone on this gentleman's table rings. This gentleman is JRD Tata.... A familiar friendly voice greets Mr Tata. Except it isn't just any other regular work call. The voice at the other end of that call is of the country's Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He's called to share a concern," Arvind Vijay Mohan shared.

The "concern" was about the amount of money flowing out of the country when Indian women splurged on imported cosmetics. At that time, India did not have a homemade makeup brand that catered to the weather and the Indian skin tone. Also, quality personal care products of Indian origin were in short supply in post-Independence India and there were very few Indian manufacturers. Hence, Nehru persuaded his close friend, JRD Tata, to set up a company to manufacture cosmetics, and in turn, save foreign exchange.

"Mr Tata gets to work almost right away," Mohan said. "One of his group companies ( Tata Oil Mills Companyaka TOMCO) is involved in the production of coconut oil. He establishes a subsidiary firm linked to this company for supply of the basic raw materials required for cosmetics production."

Explaining how Tata decided on naming the brand "Lakme", the art investor added, "A team representing the Tata Group is sent to Paris to put their heads together with their French counterparts to address this challenge."