Number of words: 282 A major reason for her to be able to do so was her adoption of the Parsi religion. It had never happened before. Not only was she from a different religion but a foreigner to boot. It was a shock to all other Parsis. But it was RD’s idea. He was … Read more

Number of words: 302 Jamsetji Tata was lucky as far as his sons were concerned; Dorabji and Ratanji were both illustrious in their own ways. Dorabji spent his life completing the projects his father had either dreamt of or started, be it the steel factory, hydroelectric project or the IISc. Jamsetji had dreamt these three … Read more

Number of words: 389 Speaking of his personal life, Dorabji had once gone to Mysore for some work related to IISc and met Dr Hormusji Bhabha, the first Indian InspectorGeneral of Education of Mysore state. We are not sure whether the task for which he had gone was accomplished or not, but we know that … Read more

Number of words: 407 Next, the Tatas focused on just one product: extracting oil from coconuts, for which there was huge demand in Kerala itself. There were local extractors but there were fluctuations in both price and quality. The first Tata product was launched under the brand name of Cocogem, which established itself fairly quickly … Read more

Number of words: 637 The man behind all of these was Burjorji Padshah, a loyal employee of the Tatas and also related to them. His father and Jamsetji had been close friends and Jamsetji cemented the relationship by marrying off his daughter to Burjorji. Those were the days of child marriage. Unfortunately, the little bride … Read more

Number of words: 390 Dorabji stationed himself in London, meeting investors, bankers and anyone willing to listen to his story. He got a lot of encouraging words but no money! London and the world markets at large were in a bear phase and all investors were shy of investing in long-term capital. Dorabji was not … Read more

Number of words: 408 He had seen the Narmada fall from a height near Jabalpur and believed it was the right site for an electricity generation project. Unfortunately, a swamiji, whose ashram was on the land proposed for the site, refused to move. The government, not wanting a religious dispute on its hands, did not … Read more

Number of words: 304 Cognizant of the prestige now associated with the Tata name, the British government enquired after the progress of the construction of the IISc and offered its support to Jamsetji’s sons. Taking advantage of this turnaround, Dorabji and his younger brother Ratanji decided to meet Lord Curzon, who had earlier dismissed the … Read more

Number of words: 345 Dorabji, in the meanwhile, was visiting the local district office to inform them that they were winding up their project, when he spotted a map of the Geological Survey of India pasted on a notice board. He saw the map marked with dark spots at certain places, indicating iron ore deposits. … Read more

Number of words: 226 The East India Company had given large parcels of land to Navroji Jamsetji Wadia in Juhu, which was then a fishing village. Jamsetji decided to buy land in Juhu, Parle, Madh Island and other areas and build a Venice-like city. The price was ` 3 per square foot, an expensive proposition … Read more