Now we have reached that stage of age when many such things which used to be thrilling for us in childhood can be ignored. But in spite of all my wisdom, even today I cannot stop myself from seeing the ships flying in the air. This is perhaps a moment when the childhood within me, for a few moments, but still cannot suppress my ambitions and my curiosity towards Airplane. Well, the airplane is one of the few selected machines or rather inventions prepared by humans, which has hidden the whole sky of interesting stories within itself. Today we will introduce you to one such anecdote from the past.
We all see airplanes flying in the open sky every day, there will be many of us who like to watch these artificial birds flying in the sky after stopping for a while on the way. There is no doubt that the business of airlines and their world attracts all of us, but have you ever wondered how the airline business started in ‘India’ and who was the person who got the first commercial pilot license? So readers, tie the belt of your chair and get ready to go on a thrilling journey-
Country got its first commercial pilot:
It is a matter of the year 1929, and today i.e. on February 10, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata, also known as JRD Tata, was given the country’s first pilot license. He started the country’s first commercial airline ‘Tata Airlines’, which later became ‘Air India’ in 1946. JRD Tata is also called the father of civil aviation for his special contribution.
JRD Tata not only founded India’s first airline, Tata Air Service, which later became Air India – but also operated its inaugural flight. One morning in October 1932, he took off from Karachi with a Puss Moth (model of an aircraft) for Bombay (now Mumbai) and sped through the wind at 100 miles per hour.
What does history say?
Jahangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata was born on 29 July 1904 in Paris. He was the second of five children of Ratanji Dadabhai Tata and his French wife Suzanne Briere. His father Ratanji was a cousin of India’s leading industrialist Jamsetji Tata. In the early stages, his childhood was spent in France, the effect of which was also seen on his language. Later he did his schooling from the Connon School in Mumbai and went to Cambridge University for further studies.
After completing his engineering studies abroad, he returned to India and joined the Tata Group as an intern at the age of just 22. This is where his professional life started. Since while living in France, he had also received military training for one year, because it was mandatory in France at that time. After this he was the director of the Tata Group for decades, during which he started Tata Airlines in 1932, which later became India’s national airline, Air India in 1946. However, once again its command has come in the hands of Tata Group.
The Government of India appointed him as the Chairman of Air India and the Director of the Board of Indian Airlines. JRD Tata has been honored with many awards. The Indian Air Force honored him with the honorary rank of Group Captain. France awarded him its highest civilian award ‘Legion of the Honour’, and in India he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
The ability and efficient leadership of JRD Tata can be gauged from the fact that he started the leadership of the Tata group with 14 industries and by the time he left the post of chairman, the Tata group had become a huge conglomerate of 95 enterprises. He died on 29 November 1993 at the age of 89 in Geneva due to a kidney infection. Upon his death the Indian Parliament was adjourned in his memory, and his body was buried in a cemetery in Paris. The contribution of JRD Tata in the development of India cannot be forgotten.