Russi M. Lala, the author of the book – Beyond the last blue
mountain who was also known for his books on the house of Tata also happened to
be a good friend of an aviator, an entrepreneur,
an industrialist, a visionary, a reformer, a leader and a patriot – Shri J R D
Tata. Beyond the Last Blue Mountain is a biography of J R D which is divided into 4 sections,. The first section of the book talks
about J R D's family heritage and the circumstances of his birth and his
childhood days along with his growth as the assistant to one of the directors
at Tata Steel as well as his courtship with Thelma Vicaji. J R D was born at Paris on 29th July 1904.
The
second section shares the stories of rise of
Tata Airlines as J R D’s brainchild and then, its nationalization into Air
India and subsequently to Air India International. The book also mentions that J
R D was the first Indian to have flown from Karachi to Bombay, when he founded
the Tata Airlines in 1932, the forerunner of Air India which is today the
national airliner. The book also showcases a copy of his driving license
which has the No. 1 printed on it.
The third section talks about the how J R D has made a conglomerate grow, which takes a credit of
providing the services and products to the world ranging from salt to software.
Under his chairmanship, ‘M’ was replaced by ‘B’ (The Tata Group
grew from 100 Million dollar company to 5Billion dollar
company). J R D started with 14 enterprises under his leadership and half a
century later on July 26, 1988, when he left, Tata & Sons was a
conglomerate of 95 enterprises which they either started or in which they had
controlling interest.
The
final section of the book throws light on J R D
as a loving patriarch, a bobel citizen and an inspiring leader of men. The book
also proves that one need not be a politician or activist or civil servant to
serve the nation. J R D lived a life full of inspiring stories for the world
and proved to this world as how a business man can serve the nation for which
the Government of India conferred him with the highest award of the country –
The Bharat Ratna in 1992. The book has also been successful in bringing on the
table the details about the industrial, social and political history of 20th
century India.
Ever
since, he landed at India, he kept on adding new dimensions to this nation.
Creating employments for lakhs of people in the world and working with a motive
which aimed only at nation development, talks about the magnanimity and the
generosity of the spirit named ‘Jehangir Ratanji DadabhoyTata.’
The Indian Air Force conferred the rank of Air Commodore on J R D Tata and
later promoted him to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal.
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