THE GENUINE JEWEL OF INDIA

THE GENUINE JEWEL OF INDIA

Ratan Tata had aspired to make West Bengal an industrial powerhouse using the famed Bengali intellect to its fullest potential. But a certain lady called Mamata Banerjee had other ideas and could not but block the Nano project at Singur citing land acquisition issues. There Bengal's prospective flourishing once again as an industrial powerhouse in India ended and her decline unto desperate capital bankruptcy began whose toxic fruits we are consuming today to our deadly end. 

When Ratan Tata was forced to pack bag and baggage at Singur by the intransigent Banerjee of poor vision, the latter bade him farewell with these uncivil words, "টাটাবাবুকে টাটা করে দিয়েছি |" ["I have said 'Tata' (a word used colloquially to bid farewell to a person) to Tata Babu."] Mr. Tata shifted site of the attempted Singur factory to Gujarat where within 72 hours he was offered land by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shree Narendra Modi. Bengal's loss was thus Gujarat's gain and the state has languished economically ever since being now the prime dole-giver state in India. Its future is sealed.

And how did Mr. Tata respond to the Banerjee blockade on Bengal's business hopes? By revenge? No, certainly not. Mr. Tata was a man much worthier than that. He could not possibly stoop to such low levels of a selfish politician. His pedigree prevented it, his heritage hindered such a lowly course of action which he had never even contemplated though, although he took the necessary legal action against the West Bengal Government in due course, demanding damages for factory laid waste. Ratan Tata passed away yesterday at the age of 86 to a nation in genuine mourning but before his death he had the satisfaction of seeing the Tata group winning the lawsuit. 

To return now to the question I have raised. How did Ratan Tata respond to the Banerjee ban on Nano at Singur? By shunning Bengal for good? No, he quickly shifted focus to providing an ace Cancer Research Hospital at Rajarhat, Kolkata by investing over 1000 crore rupees. When he failed to provide employment and a thriving economy to West Bengal, he gave high-quality healthcare to it.

Some years later in 2012 Ratan Tata retired from active executive life but continued to be India's premier philanthropist. The Ramakrishna Mission's 'Vivek Tirtha' came up at Rajarhat with a donation of 40 crore rupees from Tata Sons. [This Tata donation I am stating from memory. If incorrect, kindly correct me and I will edit article to the said effect.]

When a person dies, the spontaneous reverence pouring out for him as in the case of Ratan Tata places him on a peerless pedestal where even the prospective awarding of the 'Bharat Ratna' in the coming years pales into insignificance. For Ratan was for all intents and purposes, attainments and contributions to the nation a real ratna (jewel) who surpassed all such titles in real terms. However, the recognition ought to have been while he was alive and not now that he has moved on. He has indeed moved on but has left behind a legacy of honest business conducted solely for the welfare of the nation as has been the Tata ideal since inception. Jamshedji Nusserwanji Tata, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and now Ratan Naval Tata, the trinity of philanthropic wealth-generators who have built the nation and made the motherland proud. Let his detractors now eat humble pie even as they tweet condolence under compulsion.

Written by Sugata Bose