Honest Indian Industrialists- An Inspiration for All !
Need to Promote Good Role Models
By
In the present day Indian context, the public perception in India in general is that all leaders are corrupt. There are plenty of reasons for the common people to think like that. Many even think that it is not possible for a person to be rich, wealthy or in any leadership position unless he or she is essentially dishonest, characterless and corrupt. There seems no role models for the new generations of India to get inspired for promoting good values for the future society !
But is it really so ?
The fact is that a good majority of Indian Industrialists need to be saluted for the hard work and untiring leadership for generating wealth, employment and general overall development of the society and the people of India. Yes, many of them have a business mind which prevents them to undertake much philanthropy or good to the society. I have reason to believe that many successful business men in our country have fear of losing everything that they built up by hard work due to unethical competition and political interference. It is more difficult to maintain and manage the wealth in a sustainable manner, than was the efforts required to create it.
That fear prevents them from adopting good practices and sharing their wealth for the good of their employees, shareholders and the public at large. That fear makes them hoarding wealth in such a way that the wealth is no more useful to any one.
But yet, there are flickers of hope. There are some Indians, who are strong in character and driven by values and at the same time passionate industrialists and inspiring leaders.
One such person whom I admire most is Mr Ratan Tata.
Let me admit this thing first. I consider all industrialists, who generate employment to hundreds of their fellow countrymen and work hard to manage their industries, ensuring bread and butter for the families of hundreds of men and women in a decent manner, deserve to be admired. This is because, I consider sustainable employment generation is the most important function for ensuring prosperity of the people.
The Tata Group as a whole, as I have observed, maintains a strong character which in general practices fairness and shy away from adopting corrupt practices for quick results, as some others do. This does not mean that all individuals associated with the Tata Group are hundred percent good and error-free. But what I wanted to stress is the strong character and inspirational leadership that made that special character of the Tatas and the ability of Mr Ratan Tata to carry forward that inspiring legacy of the Tata Group.
Recently I come across an e-mail that has been circulating in the internet forums highlighting what Mr Ratan Tata had done after his Tajmahal Hotel got terribly hit by terrorists where his esteemed guests, managers, employees, the security men and even the public who happen to be in the vicinity got irreversably and pathetically affected.
Though I have been a silent admirer of people like Mr Tata, this e-mail that was made by some other admirer of Mr Tata, compelled me to write this and upload it in this page of www.bewareindia.itgo.com .
I would like to introduce such stories of great people like Mr Ratan Tata here on this page.
1. Role Model: Mr Ratan Tata (Indian Industrialist)
What TATA did to 26/11 Mumbai victims? The Taj Hotels of Mumbai was one of the centre of the terrorist attack which the whole world watched live. But later what Mr Tata did was not much publicized.
The Tata Gesture
1. All category of employees including those who had completed even 1 day as casuals were treated on duty during the time the hotel was closed.
2. Relief and assistance to all those who were injured and killed
3.The relief and assistance was extended to all those who died at the railway station, surroundings including the “Pav- Bha ji” vendor and the pan shop owners.
4. During the time the hotel was closed, the salaries were sent by money order.
5. A psychiatric cell was established in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences to counsel those who needed such help.
6. The thoughts and anxieties going on people’s mind was constantly tracked and where needed psychological help provided.
7. Employee outreach centers were opened where all help, food, water, sanitation, first aid and counseling was provided. 1600 employees were covered by this facility.
8. Every employee was assigned to one mentor and it was that person’s responsibility to act as a “single window” clearance for any help that the person required.
9. Ratan Tata personally visited the families of all the 80 employees who in some manner – either through injury or getting killed – were affected.
10. The dependents of the employees were flown from outside Mumbai to Mumbai and taken care off in terms of ensuring mental assurance and peace. They were all accommodated in Hotel President for 3 weeks.
11. Ratan Tata himself asked the families and dependents – as to what they wanted him to do.
12. In a record time of 20 days, a new trust was created by the Tatas for the purpose of relief of employees.
13. What is unique is that even the other people, the railway employees, the police staff, the pedestrians who had nothing to do with Tatas were covered by compensation. Each one of them was provided subsistence allowance of Rs. 10K per month for all these people for 6 months.
14. A 4 year old granddaughter of a vendor got 4 bullets in her and only one was removed in the Government hospital. She was taken to Bombay hospital and several lacs were spent by the Tatas on her to fully recover her.
15. New hand carts were provided to several vendors who lost their carts.
16. Tata will take responsibility of life education of 46 children of the victims of the terror.
17. This was the most trying period in the life of the organization. Senior managers including Ratan Tata were visiting funeral to funeral over the 3 days that were most horrible.
18. The settlement for every deceased member ranged from Rs. 36 to 85 lacs [One lakh rupees translates to approx 2200 US $ ] in addition to the following benefits:
a. Full last salary for life for the family and dependents;
b. Complete responsibility of education of children and dependents – anywhere in the world.
c. Full Medical facility for the whole family and dependents for rest of their life.
d. All loans and advances were waived off – irrespective of the amount.
e. Counselor for life for each person
When the HR function hesitatingly made a very rich proposal to Ratan – he said – do you think we are doing enough?
The whole approach was that the organization would spend several hundred crore in re-building the property – why not spend equally on the employees who gave their life?
2. Role Model : Doctor Shigeaki Hinohara (Japan)
At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins of Tokyo; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation's top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the board of trustees at both organizations. Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one "Living Long, Living Good" that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself.
"Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot. We all remember how as children, when we were having fun, we often forgot to eat or sleep. I believe that we can keep that attitude as adults, too. It's best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.All people who live long regardless of nationality, race or gender share one thing in common:None are overweight... For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on my work.. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean meat..
Always plan ahead. My schedule book is already full until 2014, with lectures and my usual hospital work. In 2016 I'll have some fun, though: I plan to attend the Tokyo Olympics!
There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was 68 years and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in our country. In 20 years we will have about 50,000 people over the age of 100...
Share what you know. I give 150 lectures a year, some for 100 elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people. I usually speak for 60 to 90 minutes, standing, to stay strong.
When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can't cure everyone. So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery I think music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.
To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.
My inspiration is Robert Browning's poem "Abt Vogler." My father used to read it to me. It encourages us to make big art, not small scribbles. It says to try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch; the rest is beyond our vision but it is there in the distance.
Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it. If a child has a toothache, and you start playing a game together, he or she immediately forgets the pain. Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke's we have music and animal therapies, and art classes.
Don't be crazy about amassing material things. Remember: You don't know when your number is up, and you can't take it with you to the next place.
Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they must accept every patient who appears at their doors. We designed St.... Luke's so we can operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors, in the chapel. Most people thought I was crazy to prepare for a catastrophe, but on March 20, 1995, I was unfortunately proven right when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. We accepted 740 victims and in two hours figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly we lost one person, but we saved 739 lives.
Science alone can't cure or help people. Science lumps us all together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.
Life is filled with incidents. On March 31, 1970, when I was 59 years old, I boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and as Mount Fuji came into sight, the plane was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. I spent the next four days handcuffed to my seat in 40-degree heat. As a doctor, I looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how the body slowed down in a crisis.
Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever do. My father went to the United States in 1900 to study at DukeUniversity in North Carolina. He was a pioneer and one of my heroes. Later I found a few more life guides, and when I am stuck, I ask myself how they would deal with the problem.
It's wonderful to live long. Until one is 60 years old, it is easy to work for one's family and to achieve one's goals. But in our later years, we should strive to contribute to society. Since the age of 65, I have worked as a volunteer. I still put in 18 hours seven days a week and love every minute of it."