By Special Correspondent Hoshang Katrak

Taj Land’s End Hotel, Bandra, on 23^rd November, 2024, was the venue for the 120^th Birth Anniversary celebration, organised by the JRD Tata Memorial Trust. The morning unfolded with trustee Capt. Kulkarni introducing other trustees of the JRD Tata Memorial Trust, which was set up by Air India veterans in 1994, the year following the demise of the legendary Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata.

At the age of 34, JRD was the youngest to be appointed Chairman of Tatas. A notable feature of his leadership was his belief in consensus – he disapproved of taking unilateral decisions. The only industrialist to have earned the Padma Vibhushan (1957) and the Bharat Ratna (1992), JRD was ‘approachable, diplomatic and realistic’. A less known facet about him amongst his other pioneering achievements, was that he created the ‘Family Planning Foundation’, in 1971.

In his welcome address of the event celebrating the theme: ‘Advancing Aviation Technology’, Michael Mascarenhas, Chairman – JRD Tata Memorial Trust and former MD – Air India, emphasised that the day was to celebrate and introspect the ideals of the industry thespian and the business ethics which the House of Tatas stood for. Rich tributes were also paid to the late Ratan Tata, who was “a staggering standout personality.” Three aspects exemplified the rise of Tatas during the reign of Ratan Tata – no grants in aid were availed of, executed without governmental help and in the absence of corruption charges.

Even in the face of fierce competition, Ratan Tata’s fortitude to stand his ground helped him to establish India’s footprints abroad. Both Mascarenhas and Capt Kulkarni briefly encapsulated the achievements of JRD Tata and the late Ratan Tata.

In her keynote address, Chief Guest – Girija Subramanian, Chairman and MD – The New India Assurance Co Ltd, shared how her company was founded by Tatas, way back in 1919. Dwelling upon JRD innovative spirit, she exhorted the gathering to follow his guiding principles which are as relevant today as they were during his time. She briefly described the growing importance of Air India in today’s vastly competitive aviation sector and spelt out the principles of insurance, declaring that the aviation industry depends a lot on insurance.

The technical session, moderated by the doyen of aircraft engineering – Babu Peter, had the stalwarts of aviation industry – P Balaji speaking on ‘Air India’s new avatar’; Kanika Chawla discoursed on ‘Fostering Sustainable Aviation Fuel ECO system in India’; Capt, Hemant Kumar propounded on the ‘Growing relevance of Artificial Intelligence in Civil Aviation’, while Sumit Khinvsara rounded off the session with a talk on ‘Digital Transformation in Aeronautical Information’. All four speakers gave a fluid and engaging rundown with facts and figures of their respective specialised fields.

P S Ganapathy, Executive Trustee of the JRD Tata Memorial Trust, delivered the Vote of Thanks. The entire programme was put together by Ganapathy along with Kala Banga, Veera Khambatta and Charu Gupte.