THE MAN WHO GAVE INDIA WINGS
Do you know the name of the man who gave India wings? It was Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata. He was popularly known as JRD. He was born in Paris on July 29, 1904, of a Parsi father and a French mother. Tata's childhood was spent travelling between France and India.
Some people jokingly said that he got his surname from an ancestor who stood on the shores of Bombay and waved 'ta-ta' to departing ships.
In 1924, at the age of 20, as a French citizen, he was recruited into the French army. A year later he was sent to England to prepare for admission to the Cambridge University. But his father Ratanji asked him to come back to Bombay to work in his steel plant called the Tata Steel Industry. His father did not consider a college degree necessary to succeed in life. A year later Ratanji died. As his eldest son and heir Jehangir inherited the Directorship of the Tata Sons and Board.
It was JRD who gave India wings to fly in 1932 JRD set up Tata Aviation Service by flying from Karachi to Bombay in a small aircraft. In 1948 Air India was launched jointly by JRD and the Indian government. In 1953 JRD was made the chairperson of Air India. For the next 25 years he worked tirelessly to make Air India successful. IRD excelled not only as an aviator but also as a philanthropist, educationist, sportsman, poet and sculptor. He received the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1992 from the Indian Government.
JRD's last major public statement was an appeal to, Indians to maintain peace. He breathed his last on November 29, 1993. Do you know JRD Tata was not only the Director of the Tata company, but also a great human being. He saw to it that 75 per cent of the company's profit was spent on looking after the workers and those in need.
