Special Person #4

J. R. D. Tata

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata was a French-born Indian aviator and business magnate. He became India's first licensed pilot. In 1983, he was awarded the French Legion of Honour and, in 1992, India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. 

Born: July 29, 1904, Paris, France

Died: November 29, 1993, Geneva, Switzerland

Full name: Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata

Parents: Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata

Ethnicity: Parsi

Occupation: Former Chairman of Tata Group

Known for: Founder  of TCS, Tata Motors, Titan Industries, Tata tea, Voltas.

Religion: Zoroastrianism

Children: None

Awards: Bharat Ratna

J. R. D. Tata was inspired early by aviation pioneer Louis Blériot, and took to flying. On February 10, 1929 Tata obtained the first pilot licence issued in India. He later came to be known as the father of Indian civil aviation. He founded India's first commercial airline, Tata Airlines in 1932, which became Air India in 1946, now India's national airline.  His father was a first cousin of Jamsetji Tata, a pioneer industrialist in India.

In 1968, he founded Tata Consultancy Services. In 1979, Tata Steel instituted a new practice: a worker being deemed to be "at work" from the moment he leaves home for work till he returns home from work. This made the company financially liable to the worker for any mishap on the way to and from work. In 1987, he founded Titan Industries. Tata Steel Township was also selected as a UN Global Compact City because of the quality of life, conditions of sanitation, roads and welfare that were offered by Tata Steel.

Awards and honors

JRD Tata received a number of awards. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1957 on the eve of the silver jubilee of Air India. He also received the Guggenheim Medal for aviation in 1988. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavors, JRD Tata was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna. In the same year, JRD Tata was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavors towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India, much before it became an official government policy.

Death

JRD Tata died in Geneva, Switzerland on November 29, 1993 at the age of 89. On his death, the Indian Parliament was adjourned in his memory—an honor not usually given to persons who are not Members of Parliament. He is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.