Rustomji Homusji Mody, known to most as Russi Mody (17 January 1918 – 16 May 2014) was a chairman and managing director of

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...

and a leading member of the

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

Early years

Russi was born on 17 January 1918 in Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

) to a

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

family. His father was Sir Homi Mody. His mother was Lady Jerbai Mody née Dubash. Russi had two brothers, Kali Homi Mody and

Piloo Mody Piloo Mody (14 November 1926 – 29 January 1983) was an Indian architect and politician and one of the founding members of the Swatantra Party. Elected to the 4th and 5th Lok Sabhas, he served in the Rajya Sabha from 1978 until his death. P ...

After a few years of schooling in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, he was sent to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for further studies. He studied at St Cyprian's School,

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and later at Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. On his return to India he joined

as an office assistant. Russi was married to Siloo Mugaseth, the daughter of his mother's sister, and lived in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

until his death.

Career

Mody joined

in 1939 and he was promoted to the position of Director of Personnel in 1953. He took up the position of the Director of Raw Materials in 1965. In 1970, he was appointed Director of Operations and became Joint Managing Director in 1972. He was the most generous Managing Director of Tata Steel Ltd. He started many rewards like giving of AC

Maruti Suzuki Maruti Suzuki India Limited, formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited, is an Indian automobile manufacturer, based in New Delhi. It was founded in 1981 and owned by the Government of India until 2003, when it was sold to the Japanese automaker ...

800 to all Divisional Managers of Tata Steel. He never faced a strike at the Tata Steel Plant. After retiring from

in March 1993, the then Prime Minister of India, Shri P V Narasimha Rao appointed Mody as Joint Chairman of

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a division of Air India Limited. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after m ...

and

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

. Russi Mody Centre for Excellence, built by noted architect

Hafeez Contractor Hafeez Sorab Contractor (born 1950) is an Indian architect. He has designed many skyscrapers in India, primarily in the city of Mumbai. As of 2019, he is the architect of the three tallest buildings in India - The 42 in Kolkata, and the twin ...

that contains archives of the

, was named after him.

Anecdotes

Hearsay has it that Russi Mody was pulled up by a policeman as he tried to park his car on the narrow road. Admonished with "Tumhara baap ka rasta hain kya?" ("Does this road belong to your father?") the young scion pointed in good humour to the road sign indeed printed with the distinguished paternal name. He was also known to eat 16-egg

omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, ve ...

for breakfasts. During his studies at Oxford, he happened to accompany

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

on the violin, while he played the piano. Once, Sir Jehangir Ghandy was scheduled to come to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

on a Wednesday afternoon when he would normally play

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. In his diary lying on the table, he wrote, “TPT CSC meeting on Wednesday at 3 pm,” and told his secretaries to take Sir Jehangir to his room, show him the diary and say that Russi had gone to the meeting. True enough, Sir Jehangir came and was shown the diary. He nodded knowledgeably and walked away. Little did he know that TPT CSC was an abbreviation of “To Play Tennis at

Calcutta South Club Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerci ...

”.

Award

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

(1989)

Death

Mody died during the night of 16 May 2014 at a private hospital in

Books

* Russi Modi: The Man who also made Steel * Russi Modi: The Man And His Vision

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mody, Russi 2014 deaths Businesspeople from Mumbai 1918 births Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Tata Steel people Tata Group people People educated at St Cyprian's School Parsi people Parsi people from Mumbai People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford