What matters is giving, not just making money

Ratan Tata showed through his actions that accumulation of wealth is not what an individual is remembered for.

On October 10, India learned from its sleep that Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata was no more. He died hours before dawn at the age of 86 in Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. NewsX aired a discussion of his death at 9 a.m. and hosted a panel discussion that included a respected doctor and a financial expert among the three panelists. The doctor shared how the Dorab Tata Trust had paid the cost of his medical studies and how helpful Ratan Tata was to him and other young students. The finance expert spoke about how Ratan Tata had warmly encouraged a young startup entrepreneur whom the expert had brought to meet Tata, who by then was already known as a business tycoon and was known for promoting startups. Ratan Tata showed through his actions that the accumulation of wealth is not what an individual would be remembered for, but that he or she did what he or she did to help those who needed a helping hand was ready to further her rise to success. The many charities established by the Tata family have provided such a helping hand to countless people, some of whom have in turn helped the world. Many remember what the Tata Trust did for them and some would try to do the same once they had success in building wealth themselves. The numerically small but qualitatively large Parsi community in India has made a contribution to the national interest that is disproportionate to its share in the population. In the case of the Tatas, the group’s founder, JN Tata, proved through his success that entrepreneurs in India could keep up with and overtake their British counterparts, despite the colonial regime’s attempts to hinder them and give British companies undeserved opportunities and advantages. Later, JRD Tata brought the world to India via Air India, while Ratan Tata ensured that the House of Tata became known worldwide for its quality. It is expected that his successor within the family, Noel Tata, will continue this legacy, together with the capable team of professional managers to whom Ratan Tata has delegated a large part of the Group’s operations. In a world where money has in many ways replaced humanity, the Tata family cultivated a culture of contribution to society, a factor responsible for the respect that millions of people have for the Tata name. It is not the money but where much of the Tata money has gone that has created this respect.

In our time, success is increasingly defined by profit, even if it comes at the expense of the well-being of large numbers of people. Services are being cut to reduce overhead, while the cost of such services is rising, making them less and less affordable. Health insurance is an example of some domestic brands’ obsession with making profits at any cost. People with pre-existing conditions or seniors are seeing insurance premiums rise while access to affordable healthcare falls. It is unclear why domestic insurance companies associate their names with foreign brands that only aim to make profits, regardless of the human cost. Few health insurance buyers buy because of the global brand, they buy because of the appeal of the domestic brand. In the 1960s, VS Naipaul expressed what he called the “Craze for Foreign in India” in his book “An Area of ​​Darkness”. Such obsession with foreign brands is no longer present among most citizens, but try telling that to mall owners. Each is filled with the same foreign brands, causing prices to skyrocket and customers to leave. The obsession with foreign brands persists in the minds of some companies, but at the expense of their chances of going global and at the expense of consumers of their services. JN Tata was proud of India and its Indian brand has become a global leader. Others must follow such an example, because in some cases such foreign brands only add additional costs, while more and more citizens respond with pride and trust in our country. There was a time when Tata trucks needed an association with Mercedes-Benz, but that is no longer the case, the Tata name is enough to assure customers of the quality of the vehicles. In the past, before investments from China were viewed with suspicion, several foreign automobile and other manufacturing brands were acquired by Chinese companies. The technology transfer from such acquisitions was used to create national and later international champions. In India, several companies are on their way to becoming global brands. Encouraged by the Modi government’s “Make in India” policy, they are working not only to assemble in India, as was previously the case, but also to produce in India. This is why more and more foreign brands are coming to India or relying on India to produce components made in places where costs are high but quality standards remain lower than in India. Pursuing business training abroad should not mean becoming dependent on foreign brands, but rather using the acquisition of such knowledge to ensure that domestic manufacturers compete with the best in the world. Because if you look, you will see that students from India or of Indian origin are often the best in their class. If they can excel there, they can excel here. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term, the regulatory and tax system is set to undergo changes to ensure India’s business environment is among the best in the world. Education, housing, employment and health care are human rights, but they are ignored by some who advocate for what they call the promotion of human rights. Modi 2.0 has worked hard to ensure access to quality in these four desiderata for hundreds of millions of people, a journey that is expected to be completed during Prime Minister Modi’s current term.