Dharti ka Lal

Dharti ka Lal loosely translates as the darling son of the soil, a epitaph often used fondly for Lal Bahadur Shastri, the 2nd Prime Minister of India. Shastri, who lead the nation for less than 2 years was in every way the son of the soil: as the martial son leading the country to victory in the 1965 Indo-Pak war and as the custodian son propelling the country towards self sufficiency in food generation through Green & White revolutions.

Shastri's style of governance is very well highlighted from the Kaira incident, when, he along with the CM of Gujarat Balwantrai Mehta, stayed at the home of Ramanbhai Punjabhai Patel, a small farmer from a village in Kaira for a night before the planned inauguration of the India's first modern cattle feed plant AMUL had just build in Kaira. It is said that the entire night, Shashtri moved around freely in the village of Ajarpura talking to farmers who were members of one of the first village cooperatives under AMUL, asking them questions about the yield of their buffalos, income earned, incentive structures for production etc. The leader of Indian democracy whose diminutive figure belied his gigantic thoughts and vision welcomed himself to the homes of farmers, Harijjans, Muslims quizzing them till 2 AM in the night about their way of life. I am reproducing the interaction Shashtri had with Varghese Kurian, the milkman of India and the general manager of AMUL the next day where he explained his behaviour of the previous night

‘Under the Second and Third Five Year Plans, we have built so many dairies. All of them owned and run by the government. All of them unmitigated disasters, running at a loss. But I heard Amul dairy and its products are liked throughout the country. It is available throughout the country and has an extremely high growth rate every year. I want to know why this particular dairy is a success when all the others have failed. That is why I decided that I would stay here and find out. And that is why I spent a night with the villagers, trying to fathom the reasons for the success of Anand’s Amul dairy. But I am sorry to say, Kurien, that I have failed.

‘I looked at the soil. Good soil, but not as good as the Indo-Gangetic plains. I asked about the climate here. Cold in winter, very hot in summer, I was told. So it is in most of India. Nothing special. I enquired about the rainfall. Thirty inches of rain for three months of the year during the monsoon – much like the rest of the country. I had expected to see the entire landscape green, with cattle grazing contentedly, but the whole place is brown, just like the rest of India. I did not find any abundant availability of fodder and feed here. I looked at your buffaloes and don’t mind my saying this, Kurien, but they are not as good as the buffaloes in my home state of Uttar Pradesh. Those buffaloes are certainly better and even give more milk. Lastly, I looked at your farmers. They’re good people – farmers are always good people – but they are not as hardworking as the farmers of Punjab. I can’t find a single reason why Anand is such a great success. Now, can you please tell me what is the secret of its success?’

Believe it or not, the PM was trying to understand the business model of AMUL and what makes it a success? He had come ready with a hypothesis which he tried to prove with data he collected on ground. In modern management lexicon, he did what a CEO does while trying to figure out how his competitor is making money when his enterprise is failing. A welcome change in the world of politicians with zero accountability.

Kurian answered the PM explaining the reason for AMUL's success is the corporative spirit of the organisation and the fact that it is run by a professional manager who is an employee of the farmers and his commitment to the enterprise was as strong as the trust he enjoyed from his employers: the farmers. 

The Prime Minister, who had been listening avidly, looked excited and said, ‘Kurien, this means that we can have many Anands. There are no special reasons to have an Anand only in Gujarat.’

‘So then, Kurien,’ he continued, ‘from tomorrow you shall make it your business to work not just for Anand, not just for Gujarat , but for the whole of India. The Government of India will give you a blank cheque, it will create any body, any structure you want, provided you will head it. Please replicate Anand throughout India. Make that your mission and whatever you need for it, the government will provide.’ 

The characteristic style of a leader is to find the right person for the right job and to make quick decisions without wasting time. He knew clearly from the way AMUL was managed that Kurien is frugal with investment and enjoys the trust of the farmers. In other words, whatever he learned the night before and during his conversation with Kurien, he put in action immediately resulting in the creation of National Dairy Development Board which then helped establishing corporative diary units across the country like Mother Dairy, Milma (Kerala), Nandini (Karnataka), Aavin (TN) etc and propelling India as the largest milk producer in the world soon (we have lost this title to US again few years ago and stand 2nd today). The series of events which Shastri and Kurien set in action on that day is known to us as the White Revolution.

Shastri's tenure as the Prime Minister was strenuous from the word go: from the insurrection in Kashmir and NE to the Naga problem to the South India's rebellion against imposition of Hindi and of course the biggest of all- the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Strangely, it was the attack of Pakistan army on that 1st Sept that really established Shastri as the "tall" leader of the nation. Unlike Nehru during the Chinese fiasco, he quickly decided to bring in IAF to support the infantry thus defeating the Pakistan army's attempt to isolate J&K from Punjab. He also decisively went by the army's recommendation to cross the border and attack Lahore thus forcing the Kashmir front forces of Pakistan army to rush back. Shastri, a Gandhian and a firm believer of peace and compromise rose to be the unlikely war hero who united the country with his slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. When Pakistani army sang 'Has ke liya hai Pakistan, ladh ke lenge Hindustan' (We achieved Pakistan laughing, we will take Hindustan fighting), Shastri praised his country men: the brave soldiers fighting at the front and the humble kisan toiling the field to produce food for the nation. His call united the nation from Kashmir to Kerala and the Muslim brothers of Kashmir which Ayub Khan (Pakistan's dictator) and his forces had planned to free from India suddenly fought Pakistan side by side the Indian military.

Being a Congressman, Gandhian and Nehruvian, Shastri tried to continue with most of the socialist, democratic and secular principles established by his predecessor. However, he had a very practical and hands-on streak in his style which differentiated him from the occasionally fabian style of Nehru. Moving away from Nehru's India which was taught to admire hydroelectric dams and blast furnaces, Shastri increased budget allocation towards agriculture. Increasing food production and making the nation self sufficient in food supply was one of the primary objectives of his administration. He appointed C Subramaniam, one of the most able ministries from Nehru cabinet as the Agriculture minister (ironically Subramaniam was the Steel Minister under Nehru clearly showing the change in priority). Subramaniam with his 2 aides: B Sivaraman and M S Swaminathan put in action a series of reforms like introduction of mechanisation in farming, use of high yielding seeds etc cumulatively leading to large scale increase in grain production, the exercise which is famous today as the Green revolution.

When Shastri was elected the leader of Congress party and the Prime Minister, party President Kamaraj had said that the undisputed rule of a great man would now be replaced by collective leadership. However, Shastri had other plans; he had a mind of his own and everything he did as the PM was clearly his way and never the Syndicate's collective decisions. If there was anything collective in his times; it was his leadership which got the entire country into a collective under him. This could be clearly seen from the millions who thronged to see him in his final journey after the unfortunate death in Tashkent; a crowd, some say, which even rivalled the numbers who came to see his predecessor off 20 months ago. 

Parsi Elite of Bombay Part 2: The Phantom of Bombay House

"The Phantom of Bombay House" or Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry is one of those unsung heroes of the Indian business who build an empire from nothing over generations. Like Tatas, the story of his family is one of dedication, hard work and razor sharp focus. It's a pity that very little is known about this reclusive billionaire and most of the details are based on the stories Bombay house old timers like to fondly share with anyone interested in the legendary history of Tata empire.

Mistry family's legendary story begins around the same time when Jamshedji Tata was starting off Tata & Sons along with his sons and nephew. That was when Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (Cyrus' great grandfather) established Littlewood Pallonji Construction business in Mumbai. His son Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (Cyrus' grandfather) grew the business taking advantage of the construction boom witnessed during the growth of Mumbai and grew the firm into one of the leading construction companies in the country rechristening it- Shapoorji Pallonji Constructions. His son Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (Cyrus' father) gave the firm a global footprint by executing multiple projects in Middle East along with superior commercial and residential work in India. His son Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (Cyrus' brother) and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry further expanded the footprint to Africa and diversified into more complex projects like ports. Quite like the phantoms, who are unrecognisable in their deeds and identity over generations; the Mistrys have also toiled with single minded focus in growing their empire. The family practice of giving first born sons their father's name and the Parsi practice of using father's name as their middle name ends up giving an impression that the generations of Mistrys is the same person, quite like the Phantom.




Mistry's association with Tatas goes back to the years when Tatas were metamorphosing into an industrial empire and implementing Jamshedji's vision of industrialising India. Shapoorji (Cyrus' grandfather) helped the Tatas build Taj Mahal Hotel, Tata Steel factories and Tata Hydel Power plants with their construction expertise. The association didn't stop there and this is where it get tricky. The onerous investments on Tata Steel and Tata Hydro nearly bankrupted the group and Dorabji Tata had to heavily borrow money from their main financier FE Dinshaw. FE Dinshaw, an old friend of Tatas were completely invested into the Tata vision of industrialisation and was part of the board. The borrowed money which was never paid back was converted to 12.5% equity of Tata Sons. FE Dinshaw later in his life became close to Shapoorji Mistry when he hired him to build his palatial home in Pune. It is believed that Shapoorji saw value in Dinshaw's holding in the group and thus acquired it from Dinshaw's heirs. Ironically, the mansion Shapoorji build for Dinshaw today is Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC), the LBS IAS Academy Mussorie fashioned training centre for the new TAS batches. Shapoorji continued his buying of Tata Sons shares from the disgruntled siblings of JRD and steadily took his shareholding to over 18% over a period of time. It is said that JRD was deeply incensed by this intrusions of Mistry into his family heirloom but was powerless then to do anything.

After the death of Shapoorji, Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry aka the Phantom of Bombay House chose to mend bridges with JRD and gave him a free hand to run the empire without any interference. Like a seasoned investor who just found the right CEO, Pallonji might have found the arrangement perfect- a capable captain in JRD growing his wealth manifold. He confined himself to one board seat knowing well that it will be impossible to challenge JRD. Rather he focused on his construction empire building it from strength to strength; some time at the expense of Tatas. All construction contracts of Tata factories were a monopoly of Shapoorji Pallonji Construction. Pallonji's firms even had the right to first refusal on businesses Tatas were disinvesting; Forbes India was taken over through this agreement. With his omnipresence in the background and boardroom and obsessive reclusiveness, Pallonji soon acquired the sobriquet of the Phantom of Bombay house. When JRD decided to step down and pass the mantle to RNT, Pallonji steadfastly supported the successor helping him immensely in his battle against the satraps Rusy Modi (Tata Steel), Durbari Seth (Tata Chemicals) etc who wanted one of them as the next chairman.

The Phantom's handiwork didn't end there; it is said that it was Pallonji who coerced RNT to take TCS publish. TCS being private would have given Tata chairman free hand on how to use its large profits while a listed TCS would have vastly increased the wealth of its holding company Tata Sons. It is said that RNT agreed to take TCS public only after Mistry agreed to participate in a share buyback deal of Tata Sons thus bringing his shareholding to 18% which exists even today.

"There are countless such incidents when Phantom's signature was visible in the monumental decisions taken by that Tata board and chairman" vouched a Bombay House old timer over a streaming cup of coffee during our days when the first Starbucks store was getting set up at Elphinstone building below my TRIL office. "But his finest hour was when his son Cyrus took over from RNT. I am sure he was coerced into it. Otherwise why will a person who was earlier entrusted to search for RNT's successor become the candidate all of sudden. Mistry's think the power is finally theirs but RNT is still the chairman of the Trusts and that is where the power truly rests." As we saw from the incidents which followed a few years later, true power was indeed with RNT and he exercised it when he felt it was needed. Is the Phantom lurking in the shadows, preparing for the next battle, only time will tell!