Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
He was born in 1839, in the western state of Gujarat, arguably
the first Indian to realise that the British would voluntarily leave
his country and, more significantly, the first Indian to carry on his
business
as if they had already left
. From a wealthy family, he had
established himself as the subcontinent's first industrialist, 108 years
ahead of his time, and he understood thoroughly what India would
need to flourish as an independent country one day. He single-
mindedly set about the task of laying this infrastructure, constructing
textile plants, steel works, dams and irrigation systems. His
inspiration founded the Tata Institute of Science to familiarise
Indians with the rapid advances in technology that would equip all
nations in the new priorities of the time, war and trade. Indeed, he
initiated Indian international trade, building a shipping company to
carry produce and raw materials to Japan.
He did what the British should have done far more of in their
colony building for the future, not dismantling and removing their
own shortsighted purposes.
Its colonial hold threatened, Britain retaliated. To the British,
any opposition to their schemes was ingratitude for all they had
done. In no time, for example, the imperial P & O shipping line put
a stop to Tata's international trade by transporting cotton to Japan
practically free of charge. Many of Tata's fellow colonials even helped
their oppressors quite cheerfully, sabotaging Tata's innovative projects
and discouraging his developments.
In Tata's overall economic vision of India, hotels did not feature.
The entrepreneur occupied himself with many, many different
business ventures - but then something happened.
He had scheduled a meeting with several European investors at
the Apollo Hotel, which faced the seafront near the harbour. Intent
on potential business arrangements, he strode toward the entrance
somewhat absentmindedly. There he was denied admission. This
shocked him. The reason given was his skin colour.
The episode stuck in his mind. Later he complained to a friend
about it, and made a point of finding out how many first-class hotels
in India permitted Indians entry. There was one. Tata's friend
remarked to him that beyond this, not only were Indians not allowed
