About the Book
An exhaustive 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.
The book is divided into four parts: Part I deals with the early years, from J.R.D.’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 J.R.D'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..
About The Author
R.M. Lala started his career in journalism in 1948 at the age of nineteen. In 1959 he became the manager of the first Indian book publishing house in London and in 1964 he founded (with Rajmohan Gandhi) Himmat Weekly, which he edited for a decade. His first book, The Creation of Wealth, was published to critical and commercial acclaim in 1981. This was followed by other books including Beyond the Last Blue Mountain: A Life of J.R.D. Tata (1992), Celebration of the Cells: Letters from a Cancer Survivor (1999), A Touch of Greatness: Encounters with the Eminent (2001), For the Love of India: The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata (2004)and In Search of Ethical Leadership (2005). His books have been translated into several languages including Japanese.
Lala was director of Tata’s premier foundation the Dorabji Tata Trust for eighteen years. His book The Heartbeat of a Trust is based on this Trust. He is co-founder of the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy and has been its chairman since 1993