Subhas Mitra : 12 Oct 2024
How who became rich has often been the subject of an inquisition full of contradiction.
Dhirubhai started his “Reliance Textile” with IRs 25K, which he earned as a petrol pump attendant in Yemen.
GD Birla started as a Jute broker without capital but only margin sharing.
Parsee refugees in India started life in agriculture. Tata ventured into trading and soon with East India Co with cotton supply. Real money flow started with the Opium trade.
We know most revolutionary and freedom fighters were from Bengal and Punjab, but the British partnered most natives in ill-gotten money-making with Punjabis and Bengalis. Cultivation and trading in Opium made many rich. The pack was headed by Tata.
To maintain the Richman’s world as secret, Punjabis had to opt for Crypto-Christianity or Mac-Sikhism and Bengalis pushed to Brahma Samaj. Perhaps to ensure that the Rich are isolated from the masses.
World’s largest prostitution area was said to have been started by Brahma Samaj members to provide comfort to white British soldiers and it turned out to be a money minting project as well.
EIC listed rich people were marked differently. Some were knighted, some awarded yet some were simply Titled Raja, Bahadur, Roy Shahab or membership of various prestigious institutions of London etc.
Philanthropic responsibility: or CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility):
CSR’s goals and actions are to improve society ‘as a whole’ through charitable donations, volunteer work, and “other initiatives” (OI).
What is another initiative (OI)?
A company donates part of the profit to charities, enters into transactions only with suppliers or vendors that align with the company philanthropically, supports employee philanthropic endeavours, or sponsors fundraising events.
Why?
It ensures surrogate marketing, improves the protection of any unethical activities that boost income, unhealthy business etc. or saves tax.
It is money begets money project. Most CSR is believed to be a long-term investment.
Example:
Can Charity destroy demography?
During British India, Free Primary schools and charitable dispensaries were in common sites even in the 1950s & 60s. Many able Indians donated land and infrastructures. My primary education was in one such school that was established in 1915 by a Hindu Jaminder (now a refugee living in Dumdum Kolkata as businessman) and became High school in 1838. Now it’s under Bangladesh Govt.
One need not to be an academic or Journalist to know. Just look around your own memory lanes and localities of any such dispensary or Primary school. In 90% of cases, you will find that locations are now prime sites and a large Convent school is standing with eye-catching buildings where the Church or owner is earning huge fees from mostly gentiles. Christians they have made over the years are either getting free education (first-generation converts) or on concessional frees/scholarships. ( This is Indian secularism).
Similarly, you would find most of the charitable dispensaries are now private Hospitals, medical/pharmaceutical education/manufacturing centres or other Health care infrastructure under the permission of the Indian Medical Association formed by the British in 1928.
Christian: The medical missionary association was started in 1905. The organization was renamed Christian Medical Association of India in 1926. Nursing and paramedical training might have been a thrush area as that allows attracting the downtrodden, teaching English, providing basic training and job against???? (You know better than me).
Some media houses reported that during the rise of Patanjali products, it was this association that declared them as fake or unscientific and they recommended any health products imported from Western Countries. ( I do not know its authenticity).
Muslim: About Muslim 35 Doctors attended under the banner of the Islamic Medical Association of India (IMAI) at Hajipur, Bihar on 20 Feb 2009 (secularism of Indian constitution). It has its oath (Islamic).
(These associations must be doing charitable jobs. Some charities diminish/alter our religious demography).
If Hindus also start separate associations Two things can happen:
The country will go back to the 1940s for a second partition call from the minorities.
Objection may come from UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON
INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM besides INDI alliance politicians. (My doubt).
Some famous physiotherapists:
Bill and Melinda Gates announced in 2010 that they would donate 95% of their wealth to charity. Investor Warren Buffett each signed a commitment they called the “Giving Pledge”. What happened? Is Bill Gates a Sanyasi? How did he become an Immunizations and vaccination expert being a High school dropout?
According to the 2021 EdelGive Hurun Philanthropists of the Century report, Jamsetji Tata led the rankings with total donations reaching US$102.4 billion (adjusted for inflation).
Ratan Tata’s defining moment came during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, Tata Sons and Tata Trusts combined pledged Rs 1,500 crore to support India’s fight against the virus and IRs 500 crore towards personal protective equipment (PPE), testing kits and healthcare infrastructure.
Can we compare Renunciation with that donation or Charity?
Kazuo Inamori, a self-made mogul in Japan’s postwar boom portrayed work as an almost spiritual mission as he built powerhouse ceramics and telecommunications companies and then traded his business suits for the robes of a Buddhist monk. He died as a Monk owning NOTHING.
Mr. Inamori was often placed alongside Sony’s Akio Morita and vehicle-maker Soichiro Honda.
1959 he founded Kyocera and grew into a dominant player in the global semiconductor market, making precision ceramics that are key components in computers and other devices since they resist heat and do not conduct electricity.
This is known as pure karma yoga – work without attachment.
Bhanwarlal Raghunath Doshi : A plastic tycoon from Delhi who gave up his IRs 600 crore empire to become a Jain monk.
The Bhandari couple: Bhabesh and Jeenal – from Gujarat donated their entire fortune, estimated to be around IRs 200 crore, to charity after their children chose to become Jain Hindu monks.
These TWO are examples of renunciation.
My Regards and Respect for Tata House:
I have worked for Tata for 17 months before taking up an overseas offer. Among 5 other corporate employers, Tata was the best. They truly look after their employees. Before Govt. of India, Tata started providing work insurance coverage for employees ONE hour before and after working hours including those availing Tata’s accommodations where electricity was free during the 1980s (I do not know now).
Subject to qualification and fitness employee’s children were entitled to apply for preferential recruitment. After leaving the Military I had not such facilities in any other companies.
Back in those days, industrial workers disputes with management were very high but Tata House had no such thing. Regional terror groups used to extract money from plantation gardens but Tata had the least problems. Student unrest in education centers was common but Tata had no such problems.
I have no idea how that was possible but now after the demise of Ratan Tata, some media and you tubers want us to believe that Tata Sons funds many trouble-making NGOs including Tista Setalvat, the fraud anti National, ULFA in Assam and The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) are incubators of urban Naxshal ideology.
(I am a novice in such subjects and cannot comment)
I have not seen Ratan Tata but my respect for him increased manyfold after seeing his handling of the Bombay Bombing, his handling of the Taj Hotel incident and his refusal of a military vehicle to Pakistan.
Once I saw JRD Tata and witnessed his administrative acumen.
He was flying from Kolkata to Pune but in midair, he wanted to visit TELCO (Tata Motor- Jamshedpur). The pilot landed and came to the TELCO gate at a time when the gate remained closed for an hour.
Security guards were mostly Gorkha. The guard knew Tata Shahab; he saluted him but refused to open the gate. The pilot requested but to no avail.
They did not know the number of Security officers ( an Ex Major). There were no mobile phones in those days. The pilot came down and phoned the MD who sent the security office and the gate was opened.
On his return, JRD ordered SO to give a promotion to the guard with immediate effect.
That is the Tata administration I have seen.
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