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IMPRESSIONS
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Mr. Noshir Soonawalla Chairman, Tata Investments I knew PB as a Director on the Board of Tata Investments. He was on the Board long before I joined. As such, I can only talk of my observations during the meetings of the Tata Investments Board.
The role of the Board of Directors, i.e. the non-executive Directors, is to ask the right questions. As I observed, PB had a very good feel for figures. He could spot things from the accounts and ask the right questions and zero in on the problems. He was very knowledgeable about the stock market and had a shrewd grasp of things.
He was a very practical man and made practical suggestions drawn from knowledge and experience. He always looked at things with the shareholders' interests in mind. Their interests, he felt, should be of paramount importance. I felt PB's business experience and the trials he had faced gave him the insights.
When the new rules for retirementage were introduced in the Tata Group, which was a first in Indian industry, he fully supported it. I remember telephoning him when he was ill and hospitalised. He said, "Do tell me when you want me to step down." It showed his character. I was very touched by it.
Mr. Azim Premji Chairman, WIPRO Limited I worked with PB for many years on the Board of Wipro Limited. During Board meetings he spoke very little, but whenever he did, he made very sharp points. He could be very incisive. Outside the Board meetings he attended I had limited interaction with him. Nevertheless, I'd like to point out a few things I observed:
Pratapbhai believed in secularism and was extremely passionate about it. I remember vividly how hurt he was by the communal incidents that had occurred in Mumbai and Gujarat. Many people express these things, but I have rarely seen the depth of commitment to secularism, sincerity and the
The more the state plans' the more difficult planning becomes for the individual -
Friedrich Hayek
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