“This is a book to be savoured one story at a time. Through many little vignettes and anecdotes, Harish Bhat takes us on a journey that showcases business at its very best.” – Santosh Desai
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Harish Bhat is a brand custodian for Tata Sons and he takes his role seriously. This collection of stories has one thing in common – they all involve episodes from India’s first major industrial venture, the setting up of Tata Steel and the lives of the Tatas. This does not mean that the book is about iron and steel – on the contrary it is a story about the hopes and dreams of the people behind the Tata story, Jamsetji Tata, his sons and those who dedicated their lives to contributing to India’s industrial and commercial growth.
There is no historic continuity in the stories; they are arranged in a delightfully random order, covering toilet rolls, diamonds and encounters with visionaries like Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda. The aim is to astonish and provoke – though that aim perhaps would work better for youngsters from management institutes.
However, for those who like stories of risk and daring, Tata Stories is simply told and makes for easy reading so that age becomes irrelevant. It evokes a more innocent time when options were clear cut and when those willing to risk everything had a chance of coming out tops. A time when the world’s eyes were on India and those who were struggling to build it.
Reviewed by:
Anjana Basu
Added 26th August 2021
