#Tatastories

Wonderful book and a good collection of short but important stories of the Tata group. These stories also fill the reader, especially an Indian reader with a lot of pride that how some of our business leaders stood up in the building of a young nation. Everybody should read such books, especially as part of school syllabus as well.

The reader gets to know what goes inside the minds of great personalities . Very interesting !

Apart from the packaging- which being terrible has become signature for the seller I got it from, the book is invaluable.

Must read to know rich legacy of the TATAs

It is awsome book but kind of delivery Amazon made is disappointing. Its in paper bag which was torn at delivery and one of the three books cover found to be damaged

Unknown to many Indians how Tata and its iconic leaders shaped, helped india is a must read for all

Mr. Bhat. Thank you very much for taking your readers through these 40 timeless tales. It was indeed an extraordinary journey! These are not merely inspiring stories about a business empire but real time case studies on humanity, altruism, passion, purpose, ethics, management, leadership, entrepreneurship and above all #patriotism !!I loved the story of ‘Bombay Plan’ for whole nation. The first ever national economic plan for India worth Rs 10,000 Cr. and that too in 1944, which trembled the British rulers from India to Britain. It was inspiring to read the way J.R.D. Tata managed the criticism and opposition of Bombay Plan not only from British leaders but Indian political parties too. I was thrilled to read about the freedom movement from these elite corporate houses in their own unique way!Conversation of Jametji Tata with Swami Vivekananda was an interesting insight. I was stunned to read about the dismantling of disused Nissan plant in Australia by the engineers of Tata Motors to bring it in India across the seas for setting it up in Pune. It was amazing to read about Lee Kuan Yew, one of my favorites, instructing Singapore Airlines to collaborate, study and learn the service standard from Tata Airlines (Air India). Reading about Homi Jehangir Bhabha & Apsara reactor made me nostalgic as I have had the privilege of working at B.A.R.C as part of my final year engineering project. Contribution of the great Lady Meherbai Tata in saving Tata Steel is another inspiring tale. In ‘The Race’, J.R.D Tata set an example that winning is important, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of human values. Sometimes we win even by losing if we stand strong by moral values. And the list goes on….Each member of Tata family, described in this book, is inspiring in one way or other. However, I was inspired to read about other leaders from Tata group such as Sumant Moolgaokar, Xerxes Desai, Charles Page Perin, Nani Palkhivala, Dr. John Matthai, Nevill Vintcent, Russi Mody and Darbari Seth, just to name a few. These leaders lived and breathed the Tata values and I am sure their stories will continue to inspire generations.Sir, I wish you the best and I am looking forward to your next writing. Thank you once again!!

Good book. Quite insightful

TATA STORIESHarish BhatFull disclosure: Harish Bhat, the author, was my batchmate during my MBA days at IIMA. This review covers three topics—Harish Bhat, the Tatas, and the book itself.A 2013 article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported that IIMA is the toughest MBA school to get into in the world with a *minimum* score equivalent to 770 on GMAT. Even if it were to be debated if it’s THE toughest, everyone will agree that it is *extremely* difficult to get into. So, the entire class consisted of academic kings. But even amongst the kings, there will be an emperor. In our batch, actually, three people stand out in my mind—Harish Bhat (and Raghuram Rajan and Nachiket Mor). The latter two would go on to impact the lives of millions. But Harish Bhat (yes, most people used his full name) had already started serving the community from the very beginning at IIMA. The “community” he was serving was us, his fellow batchmates. While everyone was smart, our sadistic professors (and I say this in a nice way) had the uncanny ability to create the most difficult problems requiring the simplest of math skills. The grading was brutal. So, before every exam, Harish Bhat would offer cram sessions that were heavily attended and a lot of us benefitted from them. Later, he would go on to reach the ultimate heights in corporate India. Today, he is the Brand Custodian at Tata Sons, the Chairman of Tata Coffee Limited, and a Director on the Boards of several other Tata Companies, including Trent Ltd., Tata Starbucks Pvt. Ltd., Infiniti Retail Ltd., Tata Unistore Ltd., and Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Ltd.The Tatas are an industrial and commercial powerhouse in India but now have a global presence with prominent brands like Taj hotels, AirAsia, Jaguar, etc., serving 150 countries. They have always been known as an extremely ethical company in the land, where unethical behavior and corruption often ran rampant. If you are not familiar with them, you should at least look at their wiki page.Coming to the book, Harish shares 40 stories from the archives of the Tata Group. While the stories span several decades (a century and a half?) and numerous personalities from the group, some common threads ran through all of them. The picture that emerges is one of an extremely upright group of owners and management, who, while seeking profits, made sure that they served the country, and boosted the lives of Indians. They would pursue grand visions, put everything on the line, and almost invariably deliver with meticulous execution. They are known for starting leading academic institutes, research centers, a supercomputer, an airline, a dominant automotive brand, a steel factory, and numerous branded, consumer goods, all bearing the Tata seal of quality and reliability. They never cut corners. Jamsetji Tata, the founder had already started offering pension plans and compensation securities in 1880s, which was unheard of then. Later, e.g., the group would make sure that there will be a lake next to the industrial plant, which was well-taken care of in a nod to protecting the environment. So, it would be fair to say that they were already pursuing—with sincerity—what a century later came to be called CSR (corporate social responsibility) and sustainability.The stories are, to use the clichéd term, inspiring. It certainly helped that the same points were hammered again and again—never blatantly—in every story. So, it became inescapable to not let that sink in. I can truly say that after reading it, I feel inspired to do the right thing, and in a way disappointed that I did not do more to serve my community.