A tribute that leaves things unsaid

The word “hagiography” was originally used to describe the study of the lives of saints but thereafter came to signify any biography that idealises or idolises its subject. If a hagiography could be written about an inanimate object, in this case, a car — not just any four-wheeled vehicle but the cheapest car in the world — this is it. The publication gushes over the achievements of the team that designed and put together the Nano for and on behalf of Tata Motors. Explaining what prompted him to make the smallest and least expensive car in the world, Ratan Naval Tata, who heads the widely-diversified, multinational Tata industrial conglomerate, had remarked: “I saw a family of four on a (two-wheeled) scooter in the rain and thought, ‘Surely there has to be a safer and more comfortable way for a family to travel’”. First presented at an annual exhibition of cars in Delhi in January 2008, the Nano was commercially launched in March 2009. The authors dwell at considerable length on the efforts that were made by the team at Tata Motors to design the car and then, to manufacture it. Throughout the book, the authors repeatedly appreciate Mr Tata’s efforts and his encouragement for the project and the cover of the publication uses a quote from him right on top: “A promise is a promise”. The authors have written the book the way public relations practitioners would have. What has been left unsaid is significant — the publication steers clear of tackling headlong certain controversial issues. For example, the political factors that contributed to Union minister for railways Mamata Banerjee’s success in using the issue of land-acquisition at Singur to successfully take on the well-entrenched Left Front government that has been in power in West Bengal for over three decades, are discussed only cursorily. It is common knowledge that Tata Motors and the West Bengal government had to encounter stiff opposition from agitating farmers claiming that their lands had been acquired forcibly and even those who voluntarily sold their land, later wanted higher compensation. The entire burning issue of how land is to be acquired for the establishment of industrial projects and the role of government agencies vis-à-vis private corporate entities in land acquisition has been dealt with in the book only in passing. The authors detail how in the face of escalating tensions, Tata Motors first threatened to pull out its factory from Singur and how, even as the protests against the project continued, workers were attacked and prevented from continuing construction. Without naming anyone, Mr Tata had accused his competitors of secretly helping those opposed to the project, an allegation the protesters denied. The book throws no new light on this topic. After the Nano factory moved to Sanand near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, the Narendra Modi government not only rolled out the red carpet for Tata Motors, the state government provided huge direct and indirect subsidies to project. One may have expected a comparative analysis of the sops offered by the two state governments but this is missing from the book. To use Mr Tata’s description: “This book chronicles the saga of the creation of the Nano, in particular the human story of the commitment, fortitude and capability displayed by all the Tata Motors employees connected with the project, in the face of multiple challenges and setbacks. In its telling, this book also reaffirms the ethics and principles that sustain the Tata group”. With such an endorsement, one need not add anything extra about the overall tone of the authors. Still, this reviewer deems it necessary to point out that perhaps the biggest omission in the book is the absence of any reference to the debate on the relative merits of the government encouraging personalised transport at the expense of public transport. One is not suggesting that the authors should agree with the contention that various direct and indirect subsidies provided by government bodies to providers of personalised transport discriminates against public transport like buses. But a mention of such arguments and counter-arguments would have enhanced the quality and depth of the book and made it appear less of a puff-job.

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is an educator and commentator