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Christabelle
Noronha and Cynthia Rodrigues
Dr Irani lived in Jamshedpur for 33 years
when he was with Tata Steel. After he retired from the
company, he relocated to Mumbai; but Jamshedpur is still
where his heart is. He talks about his love for the
city and the good times that he remembers
Many people think of Jamshedpur,
now in Jharkhand and earlier in Bihar, as a place in
the back of beyond. In fact, when I visited Mumbai during
my days at Jamshedpur, my friends would often say, “You
must be pleased to have the chance to come to Mumbai.
”My response would always be, “No, I feel
relieved that I can go back to Jamshedpur.” Jamshedpur
is my true home, a city of gracious living and one that
grows on you.
In the building that I live in,
in Mumbai, there are 88 flats, some occupied by Tata
people. But, I can count on the fingers of my hand the
people I interact with. In contrast, in Jamshedpur,
I know and interact with everyone and everyone there
knows each other. People sometimes feel in these situations
you do not have your privacy — I personally do
not see that as a shortcoming. In some ways it’s
almost Victorian — a very laid-back lifestyle where
you can drop in at people’s homes for a cup of
tea or pay a courtesy call to enquire about the family.
My fondest memory of Jamshedpur
is of the warm and cordial relationship between the
officers and the workers. There are no barriers —
everyone intermingles and enjoys each other’s company.
Earlier, clubs were the major
source of entertainment as television hadn’t invaded
our lives. Everyone in Jamshedpur came to the clubs
to see movies, play games and sports. In fact it was
at the Parsi Club that
I first met my wife, Daisy, and we soon got married.
Whenever I go to Jamshedpur I still enjoy going to the
club and playing cards with the same people I used to.
A model city — a better
life
Family life is a very important part of the social fabric
in Jamshedpur. Since the township is managed by Tata
Steel, the city is clean and green, and we have some
of the best parks and facilities for sporting activities.
A good hospital is run by Tata Steel and we have a very
good education system which is run by the Jesuits, the
Ramakrishna Mission and other school organisations,
making it an ideal place to bring up children.
Because of Tata Steel’s
commitment to the city and concern for the people of
Jamshedpur, the company takes care of most of the civic
amenities. The government does not have to spend on
anything. The company takes care of everything —
water, infrastructure, power, greening of the city.
The government has leased some 15,000 acres of land
to Tata Steel, which sub-leases it to Tata
Motors and other companies. Tata Steel ensures that
there is no overcrowding in the city. Surprisingly,
the town itself has not changed much over the years.
There are no skyscrapers or concrete structures.
It’s not surprising then
that people who live there are totally committed to
Tata Steel. We have seen families where the second,
third and even the fourth generation have been proud
employees of the company.
I must admit that Jamshedpur
is not entirely a benevolent exercise on the part of
Tata Steel. We have to provide these facilities so that
people will want to come and stay there. People from
large metros are not very keen to move to Jamshedpur.
I have actually plotted the phenomenon. The first two
years are critical as the wives miss the excitement
of big cities. After two years in Jamshedpur, they get
used to the lifestyle. Then there is no moving away.
Non-employees of Tata Steel also
have a tremendous sense of loyalty towards Tata Steel
and Jamshedpur because the facilities are the same for
everyone. I often ask non-Tata Steel people, with transferable
jobs at banks, etc, what they think of Jamshedpur. They
tell me that they see it as a golden posting, quite
unlike being sent to Guwahati or Patna.
But things are changing in Jamshedpur.
Roads have become congested as most people commute by
two-wheelers or cars today unlike the earlier days when
people commuted on bicycles. Commercial activity is
coming in. Tata Steel has allocated space to various
entrepreneurs to put up malls. It has spent money on
the township, houses and clubs.
The flip side is that the people
of Jamshedpur have begun to take things for granted
— they have had it too soft and too easy, for too
long.
I can give examples. The residents
receive water directly from the waterworks for all 24
hours of the day. One year the lake level went down
and we decided to provide direct water supply for 16
hours only. So for eight hours, people would have to
store water. An officer’s wife wrote to me, saying
that since you have put this hardship on us, please
supply us free plastic buckets. I wrote back: Madam,
there are plenty of plastic buckets available in our
bazaars, which you can buy.
If a mosquito is seen, the fumigating
machine is immediately pressed into service. The staff
at the Town Department go around searching for the water
deposit that is breeding mosquitoes.
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A safe city
In the early ’90s there was a lot of unrest due
to tremendous law and order problems in Jamshedpur.
It was becoming like Dhanbad, under the control of the
mafia. In 1994 at a public gathering I told Laloo Prasad
Yadav: “We are totally self-sufficient. We have
our own water, we don’t want a municipality, we
don’t want your money. The only thing we want from
you is law and order and that you cannot provide.”
He replied, “I’ll give you my best police
officer.” Three weeks later, a police officer,
Dr Ajoy Kumar, came to Jamshedpur and in three months
we could see the difference. He put the fear of God
in the local toughs and cleaned up the town. And that
situation prevails even today. His successors too have
managed to keep the town relatively clean of crime.
Petty thefts still take place, but on the whole, Jamshedpur
is safe and free of crime.
Jamshedpur = Tata Steel
When I first came to live in Jamshedpur, I used to see
movies at the club. In the interval, the general manager
of the plant would have a circle of people around him,
all talking about what is happening at the plant. Now
I had come from England with a culture similar to what
you might find in Mumbai today, where you don’t
talk about work outside the office. I could not understand
this culture.
After a few months when I got
involved in my work, I also got into the groove of life
in Jamshedpur. Three years later I was doing exactly
the same thing. I would call up the plant, in the interval,
to find out what was happening.
In Jamshedpur, your life and
your conversations revolve around the plant. We never
spoke about fashion shows or cricket or even politics.
We only talked about Tata Steel. Your life at work and
outside were inextricably entwined.
Sooner or later people living
in Jamshedpur, whether employees or
non-employees, discover one truth that I have always
affirmed: Jamshedpur is an oasis in a desert and the
quality of life it offers is unmatched by any other
city in India.
Uploaded
in August, 2007
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