#TATA STORIES
BY Harish Bhat is a book with everlasting message to the country men of India
to be the best contributors for the progress of their motherland. This book
provides an exemplary information about the buoyant struggle of the extra
ordinary patriots and great sons of Mother India – THE TATA’S.
We all should
consider it indeed as a great privilege to hold the book as it is not easy to
be able to collect all the necessary info and painstakingly produce it in the
form of a book in the better interest of the fellow countrymen.
The author of
the book Harish Bhat, is currently the brand custodian at TATA Sons. An avid
marketer, he has helped create many successful Tata brands. He writes
extensively, and is a columnist for THE HINDUBUSINESS LINE and MINT. In 2019,
LinkedIn selected him as one of their top voices in India.
Why a hashtag in the title? The author
answers, I quote “Eventually, when each story came to life, I would first post
it on the social media platform LinkedIn, where the series soon developed a wide
and enthusiastic online readership within the first few weeks. I used the
simple hashtag #Tatastories to bind the stories together on this platform.”
This book is
a conglomeration of rare talents and it is finely crafted with 40
chapters along with Introduction, epilogue, acknowledgements, bibliography and
finally details about Tata central archives.
The title
puts forth the contents in the book. Every one can predict the content as stories
about TATA. What sort of stories are they? Why we need to read them?
Stories of an
enormous courage, brilliance and time tested ones are part of this book. These undoubtedly
inspire and arouse thoughts of bringing in excellence in our works.
An excerpt
from the book:
This is the delightful story of one of India’s first marketing wizards, a maverick of the Tata Group, and a close associate and friend of J.R.D. Tata. He’s the man behind the Maharajah, the lovable mascot of Air India: Sorab Kaikushroo Kooka, aka Bobby Kooka.
Bobby Kooka was recruited into the aviation department of the Tata Group in the year 1938. Tata Airlines was still a fledgling airline service at that time. Many years later, J.R.D. Tata fondly narrated the tale of how he first met the man.
‘I don’t know how many of you there are here tonight who were in Tata Airlines in May 1938—probably not many—when Mr Kooka first burst upon an astonished air transport world which has never been the same since. On that fateful day in May, Mr Kooka appeared in my office and, having pointed out the deficiencies in the Tata organization, explained how badly needed he was in Tatas to put them right . . . I decided that if there was any place for him in Tatas, it could only be in Tata Airlines. Furthermore, in those days, the chances of survival of Tata Airlines were pretty dim and so it was clear that by employing him there we would be taking little risk of making any permanent commitment.’
Bobby Kooka also recalled this first encounter with J.R.D. Tata in his inimitable style: ‘I was told that I would have to see Mr J.R.D. Tata. I was warned that Mr Tata was a terror. Heart in mouth, I went to his office. He asked me very searching questions, none of which could I answer. He was obviously impressed, so impressed, that within seconds, I was ushered out of the room . . .’
Driving this banter was a brilliant, fertile marketing brain. After spending a few years as secretary of Tata Airlines, Bobby Kooka had decided to give the brand (now rechristened as Air India, with J.R.D. as chairman) a human face that represented India with charm and dignity. At the first booking office of the company, located in Churchgate in Mumbai, he created ‘an oriental potentate, sitting on a magic carpet, smoking a bubble hookah’. This was the beginning of the Air India Maharajah, perhaps India’s very own first advertising mascot that went on to win millions of hearts across the world.
In Bobby Kooka’s own words: ‘We call him a Maharajah for want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He might look like royalty, but he isn’t royal.’ Working together with Umesh Rao of J. Walter Thomson, the advertising agency, Kooka envisioned with flourish such a lovable symbol of India—a round face, with an outsized moustache, striped turban and long nose.
After making his first appearance in 1946, the Maharajah was all over the world, in the process making Air India one of the most visible and engaging brands globally. Fifty years before Google even thought of Google Doodles, Bobby Kooka was constantly reinventing the Maharajah—as a lover boy in Paris, a sumo wrestler in Tokyo, a Romeo in Rome, and a guru of transcendental meditation in Rishikesh. The Maharajah was funny, irreverent, up to antics, but always full of India, his proud homeland. He was a friend to every traveller on India’s national airline, and would reach out to them with warmth and hospitality.
Bobby Kooka also extended this ‘Indianness’ to every office of the airline, worldwide. Imagery, dances, paintings and sculptures from India appeared in the offices of Air India in New York, Geneva and London, making the airline a beautiful showcase of the country’s great heritage. This, in turn, attracted many global travellers to make it their airline of choice. The legendary film-maker Muzaffar Ali, who worked as a member of Bobby Kooka’s marketing team for many years, said, ‘For eleven years, I was on a flight, dreaming through the eyes of Kooka and his mentor J.R.D. I was not working for Air India, but for India.’
What beautiful words. Not only was Kooka a marketing genius, he was also a maverick who created storms in many teacups in his time. He used to write for the Tata House magazine, editing the last page, called the ‘Tata Patter’, under various pen names including ‘Pestonjee Pepper’, ‘Umslopogas’ and ‘Chief of the Amazulus’. On the page ‘Tata Patter’, he proceeded to, in the words of J.R.D. Tata, ‘play havoc with the whole Tata organization by demolishing the ego and assassinating the character of every Tata director and senior official . . . [also], through Air India hoardings, he demolished and punctured innumerable egos, which placed me at the receiving end of endless complaints from MPs and ministers, including Mr Morarji Desai and Mr Krishna Menon, who were depicted in red pants running a track race with Mr Kripalani.’
But nonetheless, J.R.D. Tata provided Bobby Kooka with the required support throughout his career, because he recognized Kooka’s genius, and perhaps also the need for some benign humour in the midst of our daily challenges. As J.R.D. said at Bobby Kooka’s retirement function in 1971: ‘May you never cease tilting at windmills, at the pretentious, the charlatans, and the hypocrites of the world.’ He also said, ‘I forgive him all the apologies I had to tender on his behalf. I forgive him all the scars that I have borne because of the pleasure, the laughter and the relief from frustration and boredom that he provided to thousands, and perhaps millions, of people.’
This immediately reminds me of one of J.R.D. Tata’s key secrets to his success, of which he says, ‘If I have any merit, it is getting on with individuals according to their ways and characteristics . . . to be a leader, you have to lead human beings with affection.’ J.R.D. led the maverick Bobby Kooka with that same human affection, and, in turn, Kooka led the fabulously successful marketing and publicity efforts for the nation’s flagship airline, including the creation and nurturing of the Air India Maharajah.
With a sole
ambition to serve the country by producing and constructing the best products/
institutions respectively. TATA’s dreamt of a country of excellence in every
bit. In the own words of J.R.D. Tata I
quote “One must forever strive for excellence, or even perfection, in any task
however small, and never be satisfied with the second best.”
Encouraging
young talents, bringing in the brightest personnel from around the globe,
supporting tremendous ideas and dealing the hard times &hurdles with
patience &perseverance are the few valuable practical lessons from the
lives of TATA’s is shared widely in this book. Their concept of “Nation First” is
simply thought provoking.
I quote from
page 78 “Even in those early days, the higher education of women was clearly a
high priority for the founder of the Tata group.” This is a proof of their conscious
efforts for the overall development of the country
The book is a
guiding light for all the fellow countrymen to wish to progress them- selves
along with country’s recognition in the global venues. The long and wide benefits of taking steps along
with the countries development will fetch you a greater chance of self -development
and uplifted patriotic spirit/zeal.
“Good books
deserve to be read many times over and can be a continuing source of pleasure.”
as stated in this book by Dr. John Matthai, is quite apt with regard to this
book too.
(Excerpted with permission from #Tatastories by Harish Bhat, Penguin Portfolio)
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Tatas are such an important part of our nation and I am sure this book would inspire and motivate the reader. Thanks for sharing, adding it to my 2022 reading list.
ReplyDeleteGood to know.
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