Ratan Tata on F-16 !!

A News in a leading Indian Newspaper
Bangalore: Literally scaling new heights, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata today took off in a multi-role combat aircraft F-16 at the air show here for a 35 minutes sortie.
Tata, 69, undertook the flight in co-pilot's seat, which was commandeered by Paul Hattendorf, the test pilot of Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the aircraft.
The jet belongs to Bloc 50 of the US Air Force. F-16, also known as Fighting Falcon, is in the race for Indian Air Force's mega plans of acquiring 126 multi-role combat aircraft. Lockheed has been lobbying hard to sell its jet to India.
With this, Tata has now become the oldest Indian to fly the American-made aircraft.

What is F-16 & Lockheed?
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multi-role jet fighter aircraft developed by General Dynamics in the United States. Designed as a lightweight fighter, it evolved into a successful multi-role aircraft. In 1993 General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta. To find out more read this
F-16 on wikipedia

Who is Ratan Tata?
hehehe.. who asked that question by the way?? :) Well.. everyone must be knowing that Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Bombay) is the present Chairman of the Tata Group, a leading Indian conglomerate established by earlier generations of his family. But do you know ....... ?
He was instrumental in setting up the Tata Foundation which, through varied and extensive programmes, sponsors a multitude of social causes.
He has done his graduation from Cornell University with a degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering
Now a proud moment for those working with 'IBM'. Ratan Tata turned down his job with IBM following J.R.D. Tata's advice & joined Tata group. He still says that he came back to India because her grandmother was ill.
He began his career with Tata in 1962 with Tata Steel (yes the one which bought Corus some time back). Apart from that he held following positions in his career.
a. 1971: Director-in-Charge of Nelco
b. 1975: Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School
c. 1977: Empress mills, a Textile business under control of Tata's
d. 1981: Chairman of Tata Industries
e. 1991: Tookover as Group chairman from J.R.D. Tata

Some Facts about Ratan Tata!!!
1. The Tata Group has the largest market capitalization in the Indian Stock Market.
2. Under him Tata Consultancy Services went public. Do you have TCS stocks in your portfolio? I am sure if you do... then there must be a big smile on your face now!!
In his career, Tata Motors was listed in the New York Stock Exchange.
3. His dream is to manufacture a car costing Rs 1 lakh ($2200)
4. In 1998, complete indian car 'Tata Indica' was launched. (I am proud it was my first car)
5. Ratan retired from his in 2003 after turning 65, as per the rules he set.
6. On 31st of January, 2007 Ratan Tata successfully pulled out one of the biggest acquisitions in Indian corporate history. Corus Group - an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum producer, was acquired by Tata Sons for an astounding £6.7 billion ($11.3 billion) at the rate of 608 pence per share against a Brazilian steel company that bidded for 603 pence. With the merger, Ratan Tata has become the most successful personality in the Indian corporate business culture. The merger is the fifth largest steel producing entity in the world.

A Confession !!
You know what... I was never concerned about who is doing what. I never worried where the world is going. I never noticed what is good or bad happening around me untill I was affected. I never cared if Ratan Tata bought corus or something else. (I was thinking that I need to by a new underware next month.. should it be Jocky or something Indian :p). I never thought I will be writting about Ratan Tata today. The topic of this blog was why it becomes a news when Ratan Tata took F-16 flight. During the course I searched the net and I admit that my views have changed. I am still self centric but I think I have got what I needed. INSPIRATION !!! For next coming days, I will be reading more about Business Legends & posting articles on this blog. If it's something interesting for you.. Do come back !!!

So to summarise ..!
Why it made a news when Ratan Tata took F-16? Well Ratan Tata & Tata group are truly legendary. F-16 is best exported fighter plane. When two best things come together, it makes a history & definately a news !! I wonder what Ratan Tata must have thought when he was taking F-16 flight. Was he scared of the supersonic speed or was he thrilled with the heights the flight was reaching or was he checking out dashboard to find 'Tata' logo on the components or was he thinking if Lockheed can make F-16 why cann't Tatas ? Well if You, Ratan Tata are reading this blog .. please leave your comments for sure. Our readers will love that. As I was saying to one of my american collegue 'Hope is the reason why world is still sustained' aka 'Ummeed pe duniya kayam hain'. But certainly if you are not Ratan Tata (never mind .. you are not any less than him) ...do leave your comments on what you have in your mind after reading this blog. It's just going to take 5 mins of your life. But may change life of someone in some corner of this small world.

'Click here' to read more about his career. Since Ratan Tata's career is not a small topic I am planning to dedicate a complete new section on my website. Revisit :)