If everything had gone on course, Ratan Naval Tata would have had a hat-trick yesterday. In a span of barely seven hours, the 63-year-old chairman of the Rs 30,000 crore Tata group was the recipient of two achievement awards yesterday.

Another Bombay Chambers of Commerce ceremony was called off. At 10.30 am sharp, the Tata-owned National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai, reverberated with applause.

The Unit Trust of India sponsored National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2000, a citation and a trophy, was handed over to a dark grey suited Tata by Bimal Jalan, governor, Reserve Bank of India.

He was only standing in for finance minister Yashwant Sinha. It was an eclectic gathering. The entire Mumbai-based Tata top brass were there.

From R K Krishnakumar to J J Irani to the freshly appointed managing director of Tata Tea, Homi Kusrokhan.

The VIP seats were also reserved for Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC, Shekhar Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Electricals and Hemendra Kothari, managing director, DSP Merrill Lynch.

But the crowd took the cake. Turned out in their Sunday best, the audience was littered with employees from the UTI, Stock Holding Corporation of India and IL&FS.

That their chairman P S Subramanyam, and the award sponsor, was strategically positioned on the dias made a difference.

As the eulogies dripped, first from Tarjani Vakil, erstwhile head of Exim Bank, and then Jalan, not to mention a flamboyant compere, Tata squirmed with embarrassment. The award was for the spectacular turnaround of Tata Steel.

And when Tata took over the microphone, he made it a point to highlight that the award was an outcome of team effort.

"It is an appreciation to every member of the Tata team," he said. Fast forward to 5 pm. A new venue, the slightly crowded hall of the Indian Merchants Chamber (IMC).

The Outstanding Businessman of the year award was given away by C Rangarajan, the Andhra Pradesh governor.

There were no signs of the morning's cheerleaders. It was more like a family ceremony -- the Tata management, a few corporate well-wishers and some old Parsis. The grey suited Tata had no time to change. But the speech here was different.

"I am a bit overwhelmed by the introductions," began Tata. Then both he and Rangarajan on the globalisation of India.

"While there are many joint ventures with foreign companies, there are hardly any between Indian companies. We don't seem to trust each other enough," he added.

When it all ended, Tata must have been relieved to have missed the third award. So how did it feel bagging two awards on the same day?

"Tired," laughed Tata. "That may be, but at least for today, he is the man of the match," quipped a corporate chieftain.