This journey touches upon various phases and milestones in the author’s life — from childhood and the challenges of marriage to his life as an editor of Himmat, a writer of books, and as one who battled pain and indifferent health, including cancer, for long years.

Cancer survivors and those grappling with the disease would get a lot of comfort and insight from Lala’s passage through this phase of his life. Take peace of mind, for instance, which he says is a “vital factor in attaining or retaining a state of remission of cancer. Work, too, is therapy. We are all differently tuned, but basically we are what our nature meant each of us to be. I, for one, like pleasantness and I love people and respect them.” A positive attitude, he tells us, plays a huge role in grappling with the pain that cancer brings.

He should know, having battled with cancer that put him through the rigmarole of so many doctors and tests. He then learnt the value of the human body. “Most of us flog our bodies, deprive them of sleep and the right type of food at regular intervals. We do not exercise regularly. We abuse our bodies and expect them to serve us,” he muses.

Lala also gives the reader a glimpse into his 55 years with the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) and 10 years as editor of the weekly Himmat. The task was exhausting and frail health led him to a sabbatical at the MRA Centre in Cheshire, England, where he penned his book In Search of Leadership. Sharokh Sabavala, who worked with the Tatas, suggested he write about the house of Tatas and “its ripple effects on health, social service, atomic energy.”

Thus came The Creation of Wealth, written during the licence raj when it was thought there was “nothing good about private enterprise”.

After three months of research, he asked for some time with JRD Tata. It was 1979 and the corporate Czar’s first question was disheartening for the author: “Who is interested in Tatas? Who is bothered about Tatas?” Anxious that his research would be useless without the cooperation of this man, Lala convinced JRD it was a story that had to be told.

When they met, Lala’s first question to JRD was: Eighty-one per cent of Tata Sons’ profits went to charities, where did the rest go? He was told: “The family has hardly two or three per cent. The rest is owned by an outside party.” Lala then asked for details and also sought information on the percentage of Tata Sons’ holdings in major companies. He got both without any fuss.

When asked why the growth of Tatas had been less in the previous 20 years compared to some other companies, JRD said with feeling: “I have often thought of that. If we had adopted some of the means that others adopted, we would have been twice as big as we are today. But we would not want it any other way.”

Next, Lala wanted to pen JRD’s biography; after much hemming and hawing he was granted an interview only to be told he was wasting his time as nothing was going to be published while JRD was alive. “And I am not going to oblige you by going any sooner, so why are you wasting your time, what are you getting out of it?”

JRD was already 82 then. But, ultimately, Lala’s patience and perseverance prevailed and the two men met and enjoyed each other’s company. Lala says JRD had an incredible memory for long poems, especially in French, many of which he would recite and translate. “One of his favourite English poems was by Alan Seeger, ‘I have a rendezvous with death’.

On March 25, 1991, JRD stepped down from his last Chairmanship – that of Tata Sons. The next month, when the two met, he asked when his biography would be out. As luck would have it, the book was published on the eve of the next Republic Day, and coincided with the announcement of a Bharat Ratna for JRD.

After his book The Heartbeat of a Trust — The Story of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Lala was offered a senior position on the Trust, and had a 20-year innings there.

The various chapters of the book are interspersed with moments of introspection, reflection and questions on spirituality and God. As he says in the Preface, “The thread of God has seen me through two serious illnesses; healed a broken marriage; lifted me from financial stringency to financial security, and accompanied me in four careers over two continents.”

A book which tries to “pass on the faith I have found” to others can get abstract or ‘heavy’; it is Lala’s skill as a good storyteller that carries this one above that pitfall.

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