Tatas buy memories, JRD8217;s house

MUMBAI, AUG 16: Tata Sons is planning to go beyond the last blue mountain'' and purchase the late JRD Tata's residence on Altamount Roa...

MUMBAI, AUG 16: Tata Sons is planning to go 8220;beyond the last blue mountain8221; and purchase the late JRD Tata8217;s residence on Altamount Road valued at Rs 40 crore. It plans to convert the property into a museum on JRD to keep his memories alive for posterity.

Said an official spokesperson of the group, 8220;Tata Sons has bid for the property, but there are a number of permissions to be sought before acquiring it.8221; JRD, however, never owned the place; he took the Scottish-style colonial bungalow The Cairn8217; on rent at Rs 1,200 per month from his brother-in-law Sir Dinshaw Petit III. Years after JRD8217;s death, Tata Sons now feels it must own the residence of the driving spirit behind the Creation of Wealth8217;.

Cairn is a Scottish word for a pile of stones kept as a landmark, specially on a mountain or a path. The bungalow may have been the only concrete structure on Altamount Road when it was built in the middle of the 19th century. More than just a pile of stones, it has about 1.3 acre of lush green land and abuilt-up area of over 60,000 square feet, dotted with small beautiful cottages which serve as servant quarters. The bungalow was part of a larger estate called Mount IDA which had been sold to private developers decades back.

Situated amidst an acre of green grass 8211; the last major patch of greenery atop Altamount Road 8211; the bungalow has two formals: at the lower level there is the dining-cum-living room with a small flight of steps leading to 10 bedrooms, most of which usually lying vacant. Sir Dinshaw Petit III, brother of JRD8217;s wife Thelma, purchased it in 1890 from a Scot called Robertson.

JRD and Thelma lived here for 50 years. After they passed away, the property was returned to a Parsi trust called Awabai Petit Residuary Estate Trust. To date, the bungalow remains locked with memories of its occupants.

Chief executive of the Petit Trust, R K Lalkaka, fondly remembers JRD as having had an interest in machine tools. 8220;He JRD was so interested in machine tools that he converted one of the roomsin the bungalow to a lathe workshop with special electrical connections. He used to spend his free time in this room,8221; recalls Lalkaka. In fact, one of the 15 rooms in the bungalow still has the lathe works complete with electrical connections 8211; just the way JRD last left it.

JRD used to drive a Chrysler from Cairn to work and people in the locality even today remember getting a lift in his car to town from Altamount Road, remembers an old man in the neighbourhood.

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The bungalow is now classified as a heritage III structure by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The BMC8217;s heritage preservation rules stipulate that modifications to the structure be undertaken only on condition that the style remains intact.