Author: R M Lala
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1993
Language: English
Pages: 402
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9780140169010
Description
A Comprehensive and unforgettable portrait of India’s greatest and most respected industrialist.
Written with J.R.D. Tata's co-operation, this superb biography tells the J.R.D. story from his birth to 1993, the year in which he died in Switzerland.
Divided into four parts the book explores all the most important aspects of JRD’s life. Part I deals with the early years, from JRD’s birth in France in 1904 to his accession to the chairmanship of Tatas, India's largest industrial conglomerate, at the age of thirty-four. Part II looks at his forty-six years in Indian aviation (the lasting passion of JRD's life) which led to the initiation of the Indian aviation industry and its development into one of India's success stories. Part III illuminates his half-century-long stint as the outstanding personality of Indian industry. And Part IV unearths hitherto unknown details about the private man and the public figure, including glimpses of his long friendships with such people as Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and his association with celebrities in India and abroad.
REVIEWS:-
Russi Lala’s well written biography…is a gentle, polished, anecdotal account. An easy read.’
- India Today
‘This is a narrative with precisely the right amount of facts and anecdotes and period colour, conscientiously put together with the devotion and respect one would normally expect from a biographer.’
- The Pioneer
Contents
A Note on the Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Prefaced to the Revised the Updated Edition
Preface to the First Edition
PART I
CHAPTER I
The Heritage
CHAPTER II
Childhood 1904-1915
CHAPTER III
Taj Mahal and Cherry Blossoms
CHAPTER IV
Sooni
CHAPTER V
British School and the French Army
CHAPTER VI
R.D.
CHAPTER VII
Train to Jamshedpur
CHAPTER VIII
Years of Endurance
CHAPTER IX
Meeting Thelly
CHAPTER X
Sir Dorab And Sir Nowroji
PART II
CHAPTER I
When the Skies Were Less Crowded
CHAPTER II
Getting Airborne
CHAPTER III
Song of the Clouds
CHAPTER IV
Tata Air Lines 1933-1946
CHAPTER V
The Magic Carpet
CHAPTER VI
Setting Standards
CHAPTER VII
Night Air Mail
CHAPTER VIII
Nationalization of Airlines
CHAPTER IX
To Be Or Not To Be
CHAPTER X
Triumph and Tragedy Air-India 1948-1964
CHAPTER XI
President of IATA
CHAPTER XII
The Jet Age
CHAPTER XIII
The Emperors Arrive
CHAPTER XIV
Dismissed
PART III
CHAPTER I
Chairman
CHAPTER II
The Making of A Family
CHAPTER III
The War And the British
CHAPTER VI
The Bombay Plan
CHAPTER V
Mission To The West
CHAPTER VI
The Two Top Captains
CHAPTER VII
Cultivating Trust
CHAPTER VIII
The Birth of A Giant
CHAPTER IX
An Empire Expands
CHAPTER X
The Decade of The 1950s
CHAPTER XI
From Empire to Commonwealth
CHAPTER XII
The Indira Gandhi Era
CHAPTER XIII
A Dream Fades And Reappears
PART IV
CHAPTER I
The Professional
CHAPTER II
The Philanthropist
CHAPTER III
The Citizen
CHAPTER IV
Celebrities
CHAPTER V
A Friendship
CHAPTER VI
The Family
CHAPTER VII
Vignettes
CHAPTER VIII
Eventide
CHAPTER IX
Epilogue
CHAPTER X
Appendices
Notes
Index