J. J. Bhabha recalls his involvement with JRD, first at Tata Steel and later in getting, against tremendous odds, the National Centre for the Performing Arts up and running

JRD Tata's involvement in my life goes back more than 50 years. In 1929-30, I was posted at Jamshedpur with Tata Iron and Steel Company (Tisco) on a year's training in all departments of the steel works and the town. After a year I got my first appointment, as assistant chief town administrator, a post I held for a number of years. I had to work with two important officials. One was the town's deputy commissioner, L. K. Jha, then with the Indian Civil Service (he would rise to great heights of eminence in the next few decades). The other was police superintendent Bill Stallard, an Englishman who was posted at Jamshedpur during the Second World War (he went back to England after the War). Both were close friends and we got on extremely well together in every way. At the outbreak of the War, I was already involved with the general administration at Jamshedpur and was concerned principally with operations relating to air-raid precautions.

At about that time, an unexpected problem cropped up. One evening, when my mother was having dinner with her invalid sister in the family dining room, a group of six Britishers burst into the room and asked for the servants to accompany them to the two upper floors of the house. Apparently, they had information about a clandestine radio transmitter in the premises. They rushed out of the house with the same discourteous haste with they had come in. My mother was so shaken by this incident that she telephoned Sir Ardeshir Dalal, Tisco's then managing director, requesting him to arrange for the transfer of my services from Jamshedpur to Mumbai (because my brother, Dr Homi J. Bhabha, could not be transferred from his high-altitude research work in Bangalore to Mumbai).

When Sir Ardeshir consulted the Tata Group's chairman, none other than JRD, he readily agreed to find a position for me in his office as a personal assistant. There was some background to his prompt agreement. A few years earlier, a communication had come from Jamshedpur seeking the head office's approval of the planned construction of a wall around the steel works. JRD had been sufficiently struck by the quality of the language used to find out who had drafted the letter. It was I. He must have made a mental note about wanting in his secretariat somebody who could write so well. Once I got involved with JRD's secretariat, I travelled with him whenever he went to Jamshedpur or Kolkata.

One such occasion was the chairman's visit to Jamshedpur in 1958, ahead of the Indian steel industry's golden jubilee celebration, which Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had declared should be held at Jamshedpur. After careful consideration of various alternatives to mark this unique occasion, JRD decided that the most appropriate one would be to present the steel workers and other citizens of Jamshedpur with a park. A great deal of thought and planning, in which I was closely involved with JRD, resulted in the precise location and character of the 'Jubilee Park', with its terraced construction, fountains and flowering plants.

In his opening remarks at the function, Nehru, said, "I wanted to come not only because of the importance of these great steel works here and of the city of Jamshedpur, but even more because this place has become symbolic in some ways of the growth of Indian industry, starting from those days when Jamsetji Tata had the vision of developing the steel industry, and realising that steel was the base for any modern industrialisation of India."

He then added: "I have said that iron and steel are likely to play a vital role in human existence, but in the ultimate analysis I imagine that parks and flowers are more important than iron and steel. Flowers, parks and trees supply something which I imagine is of more basic importance to human beings and the human spirit than even iron arid steel, and it was a very happy thought to commemorate the occasion of the jubilee of this great company by providing this beautiful park for all the workers and all the citizens of Jamshedpur."

No less important for me was JRD's involvement in the establishment and development of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai. At its inauguration by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in December 1969 (observed to this day as 'founder's day' by the institution), JRD expressed his conviction that the NCPA would "play a powerful and unique role in the nation-building work under the dynamic leadership of my indefatigable and dedicated colleague, Jamshed Bhabha, who initially conceived the project, pursued it with formidable determination, and continues to be its moving spirit". Indira concluded her fine inaugural address with the following heartening words: "I wholeheartedly support the aims and objects of this institution. I think it is inspired by great vision and I sincerely hope that it will be sustained by a sense of dedication."

As a trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, I had made the point that the Trust had funded several institutions of national importance, but these had all been in the areas of medicine and science and technology. No similar institution had been funded and nurtured for the arts and humanities, which form an important part of India's legacy. With the powerful support of JRD and Professor Rustum Choksi, then the Trust's managing trustee, a decision was taken to allocate an initial contribution of Rs 40 lakh on the condition — stipulated by the Trust's then chairman, Sir Homi Mody — that a plot of 5 acres be found for the project in Mumbai.

The Maharashtra government initially said that the requisite area of 5 acres could not be found in the heart of Mumbai, but it agreed to my proposal for the reclamation by the Trust of an area of 5 acres from the sea. The government accorded its consent with two conditions: to ensure the requisite clearances for the construction of the planned 'west island freeway', and to secure official permission from its Water and Power Research Station in Pune.

This consent was so framed as to rule out any reclamation by the traditional method of solid-earth filling, which would divert the ocean's currents and cause erosion of the sands of Chowpatty, but in the form of a solid concrete platform of 5 acres to be constructed with piles in the sea. The formidable cost of such a platform ruled this option out. The government had, however, recorded its assent to the principle of reclamation, and I was, accordingly, able to secure its consent to carry out the reclamation at the end of Marine Drive (beyond the site of the Oberoi Hotel, then under construction).

It was at this stage that JRD played a valuable role in persuading the state minister concerned, Balasaheb Desai, to agree to add to the already sanctioned area of 5 acres an additional area of 3 acres, which had been earmarked by government for a Park. Finally, therefore, the total area allotted by the Maharashtra government for the NCPA amounted to the present total of 8 acres (approximately 32,000 square metres).

JRD's support to me continued to be expressed in many ways. I recall how, when I accompanied him to the state secretariat in Mumbai to meet the then chief minister, Shankarrao Chavan, I apologised for taking up his time when he had to attend to so many matters regarding the steel company. I shall never forget his reply: "No, Jamshed, you should not underestimate what the NCPA is doing. One day, perhaps, the NCPA's work may be more important for the country than the work of the steel company." These words of encouragement were memorable for me.

J. J. Bhabha has been closely associated with the Tata Group and is a director in many Tata companies. He is also the chairman of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai.