J.R.D. Tata - The Greatest Visionary of all Times

Born on 29th July 1904 in Paris, as a second child to R.D. Tata & his wife Suzanne aka Sooni Tata, a French Lady , this new born baby was named 'Jehangir 'meaning the Conquerer of the World fondly being called as 'Jeh' later.As a child he did his primary schooling in French at Paris & even remembers himself of thinking of becoming a pilot on seeing the aeroplanes flying high in the sky.

In 1914 when the first world war began he saw his mother serving as a nurse at an American Hospital in Paris. Here he conveyed her his wish at an age of 10 innocently ,that had she married his father earlier he would have been one of the fighter pilots. J.R.D.'s mother strained by the work of a nurse soon got tuberculosis and his father decided to shift the family to India.But with no treatment here R.D. Tata decided to take his wife & children to Yokohama,Japan with a temperate climate.Here J.R.D. learnt at a Jesuit English school and the family only sailed to India at the end of the First World War in 1918.After the armistice this Tata family returned to Paris in 1919.In 1922 R.D. Tata decided to send his son Jehangir to England to study. In 1923 Sooni Tata passed away at an age of 43 so R.D. Tata brought his entire family to India barring J.R.D. Tata who was sent to a crammer in England.The purpose was to brush up his English before getting admission in Cambridge to become an Engineer. J.R.D. himself wanted to become a Mechanical Engineer. In the meantime a law was passed in France that all French Boys at & above the age of 20 had to be drafted into the army for 2 years. This time was relaxed for the eldest son of any family.Being a French citizen J.R.D. Tata had to enlist himself in the French army and his entry to Cambridge was postponed to 1925.He was put in Le Saphis regiment of French army.Since he knew typing ,he was appointed as a secretary in the office of the Captain.At the end of 12 months of serving the army J.R.D. came to know that an educated soldier who volunteered for an extension of 6 months could be assigned to an Officers Training course . He decided to apply for an year's extension but decided to consult his father R.D. Tata who angrily rejected his proposal. R.D. Tata decided to call him back to India to join the family business . Upset but bowing to parental guidance J.R.D. Tata decided to sail to India.

He joined the Tata Group at the age of 21 in December 1925 as an unpaid apprentice. At the age of 22 because of the death of his father ,he was appointed as a Director of the Tata Group with a salary of Rs.750 per month. Rodabeh ,his sister ,remembers seeing J.R.D. return from work, throw himself onto his bed at the Taj and pick up financial and business magazines. When she suggested he should rest; he would refuse saying ‘I want to be worthy of Tatas’ .This strong desire was seen in him but still considered himself as as “uneducated” or “semi-educated”,as he didn't get pass matriculation and blamed his father for the same who had directly put him into business without sending to college as R.D.Tata believed that college degree was not essential for a career with the Tatas , so his wish of becoming a mechanical engineer which he always desired remained unfulfilled . J.R.D. Tata would have definitely got a seat in the Cambridge University after completion of the period of serving the French army.

J.R.D. became India's very first recipient of a pilot's licence in 1929 & by renouncing his French citizenship the same year , gave his heart to the country his father had loved so much.

In 1932, he founded the nations first commercial airline, Tata Airlines (later renamed as Air India), with an investment of 200,000 rupees (about$45,000 in today's times) from Tata Sons, which was sufficient to purchase two second-hand airplanes.

The pilot of the first commercial flight ever made in India was none other than J.R.D., who personally flew a cargo of mail from Karachi to Bombay. By the end of its first full year of operation, Tata Airlines three pilots (J.R.D. among them) transported 155 passengers and nearly 11 tons of mail a total of 160,000 miles.

With the death of the Nowroji Saklatwala (nephew of Jamsetji Tata), that time Chairman of Tata Group, at a meeting of the board of Directors ,on 26 July 1938 , J.R.D. Tata was appointed as the Chairman of the group,the youngest ever in its history, at the mere age of 34 . With the company having passed through several years of financial struggle, J.R.D.'s mission was expansion. To be sure, J.R.D. took over as Tata chairman with less experience than his predecessors, yet his moral compass was totally aligned with theirs, A point to be noted is he was committed to succeeding without stopping to the unethical behaviour all too common in the enterprises of developing countries the use of bribery and the black market. Such practices, he made clear, would never be the Tata way. Fair and honest were his watchwords.

Success Breeds Success

Although J.R.D. was a member of the Tata family, he recognized that Tata Sons could not realize its full potential for expansion and profit if it continued strictly as a family business. He was the first person from the family of the Tatas who boldly broke with tradition of automatically putting family members in charge of the Tata companies, instead he hired the best of the best. He wasn't afraid to pay for talent, neither. He once joked that the Chinese chef he had hired to work at the Taj Mahal Hotel earned more than he did and that, he believed, was precisely as it should be.

Facts along with Anecdotes

Even before rising in the Tata Sons hierarchy, J.R.D. was named trustee of the Sir Dorab Tata Trust in 1932. Coming so early in his career, his involvement in philanthropic work likely influenced his bold and energetic leadership style at the head of the firm. Under his direction, the trust also funded the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 1936,As key decision-maker for the trust, J.R.D. was instrumental in establishing in 1941 the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer Research and Treatment the Bombay region's very first cancer hospital.

At the end of the second world war in 1946 at Munich Railway Station of defeated Germany ,the Board Members of KraussMaffei ,a military equipment provider company of Germany were met by J.R.D. Tata and Sumant Moolgaonkar.They requested J.R.D. Tata that their workmen & their families were starving for food ,so could they take them to India who could be useful in teaching their skills to Indians which would benefit them.This was asked as a humanitarian request without an agreement as the defeated ones were not allowed to do any agreement. J.R.D. Tata readily agreed.The workmen who came to India were given accomodation built exclusively for them at Jamshedpur who in turn taught Indian workers their skills which made the Tatas build an enterprise that would make products on their own which were imported till then.Many years later after India became Independent and Germany was allowed to transact with India, Kraussmaffei company received a letter from the Tatas asking for the payment to be done by them for teaching the skills to Indian workers.This offer was made by J.R.D.Tata without any obligations. The company denied any pay and thanked them for caring for their workers. This incident is mentioned in the book " The Learner's Factory " by Arun Maira.

J.R.D. Tata also funded the National Centre for the Performing Arts in 1966. While J.R.D. laboured to improve conditions for all Indians, he was especially concerned for the welfare of Tata employees. Through the years, he instituted internal policies to care of and protect the company's workers. He also created programmes to provide free medical care, retirement funding and workers compensation. In 1979, Tata Steel took the radical step of legally stipulating that Tata workers were in the company's employ from the moment they left home for work until they returned home again. This extended worker liability insurance coverage was, in a manner, almost unthinkable even among the most enlightened employers of today.

Next story is mentioned by the author Gurcharan Das in his book "India Unbound" which is when he himself had the opportunity to meet J.R.D. with Piloo Moody, an MP of Swatantra party, for the restrictions that were being put by the Government of India on private enterprises owing to license Raj very prevalent that time. He writes, Indira Gandhi made her next major socialist move after bank nationalization. She enacted the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act in 1969 and crippled private industry for a generation. When Parliament was debating the MRTP bill, I got the opportunity to meet the legendary J. R. D. Tata. Every citizen of Bombay knew that he controlled the largest industrial empire in India. He was the uncrowned prince of the only city in India where commercial power is esteemed above political power. Although the house of Tatas was at the top of the monopolies list, everyone respected J.R.D. for his integrity. The Tata companies were thought to be squeaky clean and not to have indulged in questionable practices.

We had come to J.R.D.'s home, The Cairn. We walked along a long, winding passage, interspersed with dozens of steps, past faded public rooms that seemed rarely used but were filled with flowers. Eventually we arrived in J.R.D.'s study. When he got up to receive us, I realized that he was smaller than I had imagined. I sat on a gray sofa and looked around the simple, lived-in room. The portrait of Jamshetji, the founder of the Tatas, caught my eye. So this was the daring man, I thought, who had defied colonial prejudice to set up a steel plant in 1907 and one of the greatest hotels in the world the magnificent Taj Mahal Hotel because he was not allowed to stay in the one beside it at the Gateway in Bombay.

J.R.D. looked at me and said, "Yesterday in Parliament, they called me a monopolist with great concentration of power. I wake up each morning and I am supposed to say, I have great concentration of power. Whom shall I crush today? A competitor or a worker in my factory, or the consumer? I did not quite know what to say.No, dear boy, I am powerless, he said. I cannot decide how much to borrow, what shares to issue, at what price, what wages or bonus to pay, and what dividend to give. I even need the governments permission for the salary I pay to a senior executive."

He smiled sadly. "Lets have some tea, shall we?"

Turning to Piloo, he said, "Now, lets see what your Swatantra Party can do about this bill it is such an ineffective party! You do know what this new legislation means don't you? Henceforth, I will not be allowed to start a new business or even expand an older one."

"What do they expect me to do? "There was an uncomfortable pause. "Sit here and wait till I die, I suppose." His face was again filled with sadness."But thats precisely why I have come, Jeh to fight this bill in Parliament, said Piloo. I need your comments on the draft memo for the Select Committee."

Wearily, JRD opened the drawer and pulled out the draft. "I have corrected it in several places. Do you think it will do any good? She has the votes, you know."

Behind him in the cupboard I saw the famous reports. He saw me looking at them and he said bitterly," I have read them all." He handed Piloo the memo and we got up to go. On the way home, Piloo said, "You did not see him at his best,and this new bill has been the last straw. Things started going downhill with the nationalization of Air India sixteen years ago. He is a pilot at heart, and ever since they took Air India away, he has not been the same."" He seems to live very simply for a man in his position, I said.He doesn't care about money," said Piloo." He is not wealthy. All the Tata shares are in trusts. Whatever he inherited personally, he has also put that into a trust. In any case, he pays ninety-seven percent of his earnings to income tax; then, he pays wealth tax, and this takes his tax rate to over one hundred percent. His entire income goes in taxes, and he has to sell some assets each year to live on."

Despite their great efforts in Parliament, the Swatantra Party could not stop the MRTP bill. In the end, Mrs. Gandhi had the votes.No one read J.R.D.'s carefully drafted memorandum.This story clearly shows his agony and trauma he faced as a head of his business enterprise.

The story of Sudha Murthy,Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, sending a postcard expressing her regret for not allowing ladies to sit for the interview of a Tata Company is very well known to most of us. J.R.D.Tata himself took notice of the postcard and Sudha Murthy herself received a telegram saying an all expenses paid trip to attend the interview at Pune was organized for her, she attended the interview which she cleared to become the first lady Engineer to work on Shop Floor ever in India at the TELCO.

Sudha Murthy writes ,it was only after joining TELCO that I realized who J.R.D. was, the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our Chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly J.R.D. walked in. That was the first time I saw appro J.R.D.. Appro means our in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.

She is the first woman to work on the TELCO shop floor. J.R.D. looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it). Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?

When I joined TELCO I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir, I replied. Now I am Sudha Murthy. He smiled and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room. After that I used to see J.R.D. on and off. He was the Tata Group Chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.

One day I was waiting for Narayana, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw J.R.D. standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard.

Looking back, I realize J.R.D. had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.

"Young lady, why are you here? "he asked. "Office time is over." I said," Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up." J.R.D. said," It is getting dark and there is no one in the corridor."

"I'll wait with you till your husband comes."

I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having J.R.D. waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.

I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing.

There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.

Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. J.R.D. called and said," Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again."

In 1982 I had to resign from my job at TELCO. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw J.R.D. coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.

Gently, he said, "So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni? "(That was the way he always addressed me.) Sir, I am leaving TELCO.

"Where are you going? "he asked." Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune."

"Oh! And what will you do when you are successful."

"Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful"." Never start with diffidence, he advised me Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best." J.R.D. Tata always encouraged anyone ,even if the would be company would be his competitor in the future .

Then J.R.D. continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium.

I consider J.R.D. a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters every day. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.

Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of J.R.D. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish J.RD. were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

Next anecdote is from his personal secretary Mrs.Aloo Bharthania which is as follows.I grew up in a middle class family.We were all motivated to work hard and support our household. I started earning in college itself .I went to class in the morning and gave tuitions in the evening. Once I graduated, I joined Tata Steel in a temporary position in 1961, but within 6 months I was made permanent. Some time later I was married, but that didn't change anything in fact, I decided to do more!

I took up a law course, so by the time I had my son -- I juggled between college, work and home. Because of my hard work and new degree, I ended up getting a promotion and worked under some brilliant people. Balancing everything wasn't always easy -- I cried in the bathroom sometimes, but the challenges toughened me up.

And In the late 1970s, by the time I had three children -- I got a call from the 4th floor of Bombay House that changed my life -- they wanted me to work as Mr. J.R.D. Tatas Secretary! I couldn't believe it -- when I was younger, my neighbour had shown me his photograph and we were both blushing away because he was such a handsome fellow and now I was going to work for him!

I remember my first dictation from him -- my palms were sweaty because I was so nervous! He realized this immediately and spoke to me casually to calm me down -- that's how he was... always so caring.

Not only was his work ethic phenomenal, but he was the kindest boss. From little things like bringing his mali's kids chocolates from his trips abroad to taking care of my family, he cared for everyone.

This one time when my husband had paratyphoid, I told Mr. Tata that he was sweating profusely because of his medication, Mr. Tata called the Taj and ordered a bathrobe to give to my husband so that he could stay warm.

He was so soft and humble -- he was never too busy for the people he cared about. I still remember, he once took me and my family to a French restaurant in the Oberoi for my birthday. When he asked for the cheque, the manager told him that he didn't have to pay. Mr. Tata jokingly said "Oh, you should have told me first -- I would have ordered more!"

He inspired me every single day -- to be honest, work hard, and help others. And he led by example -- I've seen him help countless number of people without thinking twice. People talk about his business acumen, but the person he was...truly a gem; hard to find in today's day and age. Its been my life's biggest privilege to have served him for 15 years J.R.D. Tata Sir, you are special beyond words.

Another story mentioned by the Chairman Emeritus of the Mahindra Group, Keshub Mahindra stated in his own words is " Jeh had this extra generosity of heart. I remember seeing him, during one of those Bombay bus strikes, stopping his car to give a lift to stranded commuters. Then there was this time I went over to his house. There was a hell of a racket going on, and when I asked the reason, he said the residence staff was watching television."

Never ever heard a story of any man of his stature giving this much freedom to his servants.

The last anecdote you would read is related with J.R.D. Tata and his employee of the Hotel Taj which is as follows; J.R.D. could hardly establish a relationship with each and every employee, but he gave his full attention to whomever he spoke or interacted with. Such, certainly, was the case one afternoon when J.R.D. stopped to wish his younger sister Rodabeh Sawhney health, wealth and prosperity on the Parsi New Year. She was, at the time, widowed and living alone in the Taj Mahal Hotel.

While J.R.D. was with her, the hotel housekeeper summoned the courage to suggest to him that perhaps his sister could be moved to a sea-facing room, which would give her the opportunity to watch the bustling activity on the water.

I'm sure the hotel would not charge extra for it, she assured J.R.D.

The remark rubbed him the wrong way.

What do you mean the hotel would not charge extra for it?he demanded.

The Tatas do charity, they do not take charity

The housekeeper was mortified. But if she had the rest of her shift to ponder her gaffe, apparently so did the Tata chairman.

When the housekeeper left work that evening, a car was waiting at the back gate. The man at the wheel was none other than J.R.D. Tata himself.

"I wanted to apologize for my outburst, he told her. May I drop you to your home this evening? Pulling up to her house, he told her, I didn't want you to have a miserable evening thinking about the incident. Good night!"

So down to earth was The Chairman of the largest conglomerate in India, already in his eighties & so humble were his thoughts that he didn't have the ego to apologize an employee - a housekeeper, for his words which were right for any employer, a great quality to adore & admire of,where despite being the ultimate boss had empathy for his employee.

Most leaders would not have given the exchange that afternoon a second thought , but this man did.

Like Jamsetji Tata, J.R.D. viewed the future success of Tata Sons as inextricably linked with that of India. He was thoroughly committed to helping India achieve progress in education, in the eradication of poverty, in quality of life, and in health. He donated a sizeable portion of his personal wealth to establish some of the best research facilities and educational institutions in the nation.

Among the organizations J.R.D. endowed was the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which he helped establish in 1945. Its mission was to become a scientific institution to rival the best in the world, as well as to discover and share beneficial findings with India. It was not founded solely as a research institute, but as a means of actually delivering the benefits of scientific breakthroughs to a large population.

One of J.R.D.'s biggest concerns for India was its out-of-control population growth. Whereas Prime Minister Nehru believed India's population was its greatest strength, J.R.D. saw the connection between over population and poverty, and he worked to reverse the trend. He donated generously to the study of population control, and founded what would later be named the International Institute of Population Studies. For this and all his years of work towards population control, J.R.D. received the United Nations Population Award in 1992.

J.R.D. Tata's goal, was to change the lives of many. In pursuit of the same, he set up the J.R.D. Tata Trust in 1944.A few years later, he sold some of his shares in Tata as well as an apartment in Bombay, to fund the J.R.D. and Thelma Tata Trust, which is dedicated specifically to improving the lives of India's disadvantaged women.

None of the richest rich would ever sell their property for the benefit of the ones whom they don't even know ; where only compassion is observed,which is seen in whatever works he did throughout his life.

He and his wife, Thelma, never had children though it is said that JRD seemed more comfortable around them than he appeared to be in the company of any adult. J.R.D.s closest male heir, Nusli Petit, son of his sister Sylla, applied for an Air-India job on his own. He says his uncle, Jeh always wanted me to get in on my own and he made it a point to show no favouritism towards me. He didn't hire me in fact. When my name came up to the Board, I believe he said"This is my nephew and it is up to you whether you want him or you don't want him. I have nothing to say about it. "

So astute were his thoughts that he didn't give a go ahead for nepotism usually present in all businesses run by any family..

Hitherto we saw J.R.D. took risky decisions right from the day he became the Chairman, the first one being breaking the ever established tradition of giving the top most seat to a person belonging to a member of the family in any company owned by them ,but J.R.D. gave it to the person who highly had the talent ,caliber & worthy of it; despite facing severe restrictions given by the Government along with hardships, positive repercussions were seen clearly after he completed 53 years of his Chairmanship, when the business had grown from fourteen companies to ninety-five, and assets ballooned from $100 million to more than $5 billion strictly following the ethics & principles he set by from the day, he became the Chairman.

For his efforts to improve the working and living conditions of Tata employees and customers as well as all Indians, J.R.D. earned a long list of honours. In 1955, he received the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour awarded by India. In 1983, The French Legion of Honour was bestowed on him , In 1988, it was a Guggenheim Medal for aviation and, in 1992, the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour the only industrialist to receive it till now. He really did what he had thought himself to become at the age of 22 i.e. ‘I want to be worthy of Tatas.’ which he proved at the age of 88 & surpassed any person in the family of Tatas with all above achievements.

When he was asked about God, his words were

" I mainly thank Him for being there, not for what He is but for being there at all. Then I manage to ask [Him] for something. But what have I done for the world? We were both like drops in the ocean. I tell God When I come to you why should you think of me? He has over-helped me. Then it is cheeky to say Abide With Me. "

From the above words it looks like he had already predicted his death but despite having served the mankind the highest any man could do ,doing compassion in business,his thoughts of helping & serving others were never apart from him with the feeling of not having done anything per se. In his biography,"Beyond The Last Blue Mountains " last lines of hymn Abide with Me are written:

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:

Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

On 4 November 1993 ,when at Geneva ,he developed a very high fever and a urinary infection and was admitted at Geneva's Canton Hospital. On 29th November 1993, he succumbed to what he was suffering from & that very day at the age of 89, this great son of India breathed his last.

His body was taken to Père Lachaise Cemetery in his native Paris. A service was held for him in the Chapel of the cemetery.His colleague, S.A. Sabavala, describes the parting ceremony:

The chapel, entered by climbing a flight of steps, is a many-pillared, stained-glass-windowed rotunda. Inside, on a further incline is an inner chapel lined with dark blue mosaic tiles. Here was brought in a simple walnut, unembellished coffin. On the lid was a single red rose. On a cold grey winter afternoon the chapel was brilliantly illuminated with flowers. In the dead of winter, flowers, it would seem, constitute the highest tribute and Europe had laid out an unending carpet for the Chairman's last journey. Hundreds of wreaths and sprays and bouquets of the most magnificent coloured flowers I have ever seen dazzled the vision in a many splendoured rainbow effect. The flowers came from many countries, from many people big and small from many organizations. As the ceremony began, at the foot of the coffin was placed a large white dome-shaped wreath by the Indian Minister of External Affairs who represented the Government of India. He was accompanied by our Ambassador in France and officials of the Embassy including ADC's in full uniform. I also noticed several other Indian Ambassadors, some of them personal friends of the Chairman, who had flown in from different European capitals. France sent two ministerial representatives, who also placed a wreath draped in the French national colours.

Then two Zoroastrian priests, who had come from London, began to chant selected passages from the Avasthas (Zoroastrian prayers) which they afterwards explained in detail to an appreciative audience. The chanting was followed by a warm felicitous touch.

Mr Ratan Tata led the congregation in single file up the steps to the inner altar to circle the coffin. By its side, lit by candles, were three portraits of the Chairman. People moved slowly, bowed, touched the coffin, bent their heads in silent prayer and then went back down the steps to their seats again. After Mr Ratan Tata had briefly expressed his gratitude to the assembled mourners for their presence, six grey-suited pall-bearers came in to lift the coffin out of the chapel and place it in a glass hearse. We followed. The hearse was preceded by another van carrying a huge pyramid of wreaths. Slowly, very slowly, the cortege wended its way along a stone-paved road to the vault of the Tata family, the last resting place of the Chairmans mother and father and two brothers. The grey marble stone slab of the vault was open. Beside it was laid the coffin and here each one of us was able to step forward and shower it with white rose petals. The coffin was then gently lowered into the vault. No one spoke. The silence was absolute. One could only hear the cold wind rustle the dead branches overhead.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lone_dreamr/3844904442

"No success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country & its people achieved by fair and honest means."

His above wordings still stand true to which he followed till the end of his life.!

His biographer R.M.Lala completed his biography with words :

And as the evening mellows and the shadows lengthen,

somewhere above in the sky, in an invisible Puss Moth,

is a voyager still pressing ahead to cross beyond the last blue mountain where a glorious sunset awaits him.

I hope I was mistaken and that beyond that last blue mountain heaven’s radiant morning embraced him.

============The End==============