knowledge has no horizons

Not all born on the Earth earn fame for his name, either in the political world or in the business world. Not all who earned fame in either of these be the source of inspiration for the younger generation. But the essay is about a man whose name hits Google in an unimaginable way 14,000 times, and for whom fame is not a sought-after, instead awards--whether it is India’s Padma Bhushan, or a honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State University, or honorary doctorate in Technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, or honorary doctorate in Science by the University of Warwick--wait in queue and take pride when conferred on him. This is about the name that reigned ever with success the Indian entrepreneurial samraj and that owns the group of companies whose products and services, standing the test of time, serve as the synonym for quality. Yes, the name that requires not even a moment of conjecture and that casts a spell on the young minds is none other than Ratan Tata.

The 69-year-old young man entered the TATA Group in 1962 on returning from the USA. Having graduated in Architecture, he knows the art of building India and makes the Indians proud for being Indians. Though born with silver spoon in his mouth, he didn’t hesitate to work on the floors of Tata Steels along with ordinary workers. No one knew, including Ratan Tata himself at that time, that he is going to make it the fifth largest producer of steel in the world after buying Corus Steel for $12 billion, the largest Indian takeover of a foreign company. Of course, he had the grit to do that.

The sea of change is taking place across the group of companies right from the day he took the charge as the Group Chairman in 1991. Nothing comes for him by magic, nor does he attain the top of the power ladder just with jump. After years of hard work in Tata Steel, he was appointed the Chairman of Tata Industries in 1981 and Deputy Chairman of Tata Motors in 1988. Right from his accession to the Tata samraj, the samrat never sees any major setbacks in his attempts, whether it is the case of acquiring Corus Steel or buying the South Korean truck maker, Daewoo commercial vehicles. He transformed his groups’ national identity to transnational one. For him, ‘promise is a promise’ and this promise make millions of Indian dream of the new 1-lakh car, Nano.

No wonder, Ratan Tata tops the list of India Today’s “High & Mighty Power List” for the past three consecutive years (I am not sure whether he is ranked first before that, too). It took anyone by surprise that this group chairman of 98 operating companies with revenues over crores in lakhs once ‘washed planes at a flying club at Cornell to pay for his flying lessons’. I don’t find it exaggerated to say that this simplicity along with sagacity takes him to the top of entrepreneurship.