An interesting account of its history.....
Many years ago, in fact it was
some 123 years ago that the name Lakme rose into prominence. Well, all of you will
agree that the native version, the name of Goddess Lakshmi was prevalent
centuries before that. But Lakme was brought to print and western minds during
the late 19th century. It was the name of an opera composed by the French
composer Léo Delibes in 1881 based on a story ‘Les babouches du Brahmane,' by
Theodore Pavie. But in the modern Indian mind, Lakme has always been associated
with a line of pioneering beauty products and fashion shows from the house of
Tata.
Nevertheless, let us first take a
look at how the French play was written and what it was about. If you recall,
sometime back I had written about Mata Hari and how she performed her oriental
Indo –Balinese dances to titillate the public some years after. Well, she saw
the business sense in all that and working on the mysteries of the orient to
her benefit. But this was perhaps the dance opera which showed Mata Hari the
potential of yet another kind of Asian spice in the West. The play Lakme as it
turns out, included an array of characters, most specifically Lakmé, the
daughter of a Brahmin priest Nilakanta living in a temple situated in the
Bengal sunderbans. It went onto become a very popular opera and was played over
a 1000 times in Paris during the years 1883-1931. And it continues to be played
even today in various theatres. Of course it also included a retinue of western
characters, especially British officers enamored by the mystery and allure of
native traditions and the magnetic lure of forbidden love.
The story of how the play got
conceived by Delibes in the first place, is equally interesting and for that
you have to study Thordore Pavie and how he got to writing the book on which
the play is based. This gent was an Orientalist and deeply involved in the study
of foreign languages. During the period between 1835 and 1839, Pavie pursued
Sanskrit under Eugene Bournouf in Paris. In 1839 he found an opportunity to travel
India accompanying a British Chief Engineer on an inspection tour of Calcutta. That
was how Pavie spent two years in India drawing, taking notes, and collecting
stories. After going back, he published several of these stories a decade later
titled ‘Scenes et recits despays d'outre-mer’. Many of the characters of the play
Lakme come out of these tales. Philippe Gille, who was reworking the script for
the new show to open in Angers after its successful reception in Paris met up
with Delibes and that was when Delibes asked Gille the origin of Lakme. Gille told
him that the idea arose after perusing "Les babouches du Brahmane," a
story taken from a book whose author was apparently a man named Pavie. Alarmed
that they had never sought permission from the author, the playwright rushed to
meet him and well, as the story goes - complimentary tickets were the only
royalties ever paid to Theodore Pavie, whose work had been the inspiration for
the successful opera.
And that was how Lakshmi became Lakme
and ended up in France, but ironically, the character in Pavie’s book was named
Rukmini!! And so, the wife of lord Krishna remained in India while Lakme, the
queen of wealth, went to France.
But how did Lakme find its way
back to India from France?
As the popular story line goes - In the first flush of independence, Nehru
had written to JRD Tata of his concern over the loss of valuable foreign
exchange due to the import of perfumes and cosmetics. He urged the
industrialist to explore manufacturing these products in India. Naturally, then
Tata
So it seemed, but a slightly
deeper study suggests that the name was arrived at after great deliberation at the
Tata Sons offices at Fort Bombay. In fact, other versions also exist about
there being a popular cabaret dancer from India names Lakshmi in Paris and her
anglicized name Lakme came to being imaginatively used by Simone Tata for the
cosmetics line, which remains to this day, one of India’s most trusted brands.
But the real storyline is not
exactly as popularly stated, though pretty close. That story is as interesting
as is the person who was at Lakme’s helm from the very start, none other than
Simone Tata, the wife of the ‘other Tata’ – Naval Tata. French by birth and of
Swiss upbringing, she is even today considered to be the Cosmetic Czarina of
India. Brought up in Geneva, Simone graduated in Arts from the Geneva
University. As is oft mentioned, she was fond of travelling, and came to India
as a tourist in 1953, where she met her future husband, Naval H. Tata. They were
married in 1955 and she settled down in Bombay.
How she came to control the
cosmetic line making powders, compacts, lipsticks, creams and all that which go
on to hide the many blemishes and highlight the lovely features of an Indian
lady, is the story worthy of attention. It tells us about the times and the way
India struggled after independence to create its own identity. In fact it was
as heady as it was turbulent for the new bureaucrats and its inhabitants. With
numerous hurdles to cross, not knowing friends from foes in the geopolitical scene,
enmeshed in the grip of poverty, but seen as a major player in the world stage,
the young India carefully took the first steps led by Jawaharlal Nehru. Today a
lot of people find fault with him and Krishna Menon about why they did not
ensure the wellbeing of the Indian army and why it was never equipped and
trained. But what they do not know, arguing vehemently in the aftermath of the
Chinese debacle, is that fluid money was not something India possessed in
required quantities then. The tax revenue system hardly existed and the
government as well as big Industries struggled to make ends meet.
Lakme was born during such a
period. It was also a period when high society obtained its beautification
products by import from the West. Lakshmi or the goddess of wealth was most
certainly not smiling on her own country in those days and in jest one could
remark - perhaps because she was in France!
As the story continues, Indira Gandhi,
Vijayalakshi Pandit and Padmaja Naidu rose up in arms representing womenfolk
and decided to ask the government what they planned to do with the increasing demand
for cosmetics which had until then been imported and were now in the banned
list. An angry delegation led by Indira Gandhi was finally met by Nehru’s PA, MO
Mathai who was asked why these things could not be made in India, if imports
were banned. (Mathai’s recounting of the story is quite hilarious as to how
Indira stopped talking to him for a week when he questioned her about the
percentage of affected Indian women. According to him, they then waylaid Nehru
himself! Not to stop there their offices were flooded with telegrams from irate
women lambasting the Finance minister . Finally MO Mathai was spurred into action and contacted Naroji) MO
Mathai got in touch with NAD Naroji (then local director for Tata’s in Delhi) of
the Tata’s (Even though the Tata’s themselves were not in good favor with the
socialist leaning government and the Industrial policy resolution of 1956 was
not auguring well with the industrialist), got Nehru’s approval (and a prime ministerial carte blanche to get the project up and running without any bottlenecks) and that was how
Lakme was created by the Tata’s with some French collaboration and a government
nod and support.
And now the storyline takes a
steep dive down India, to the Southern city of Cochin where Tata’s had
previously started TOMCO or Tata Oil Mills Co at Tatapuram. JRD’s friend
Padshah had met an American named Thompson who was pressing copra for oil in
the Philippines and that was how the idea of an oil plant in India was born. He
explained to Padshshah that the US needed the coconut oil and that it made
great business sense. But the Americans had in the meantime invested heavily on
coconut plantations in the Philippines and to protect this investment levied
huge import duties on coconut oil from India. As it looks, Thomson in the
meantime became TOMCO’s advisor and misspent the huge capital invested by the Tata’s
in buying machinery and things like boats and boathouses for himself. He took
the Tata’s on a right royal ride, till they saw light and fired him. But Tomco
was a reality and quickly diversified into making ancillary products using oil,
like soap (Soap John or PT John was the man behind this). Competition with the British
manufacturer Lever’s was stiff though the market stabilized however after a
price cut attempt by Lever’s failed. Tata’s 501 and Hamam became popular.
But what has TOMCO of Cochin got
to do with the fragrant Lakme? Lakme eventually started as a 100% subsidiary of
Tata Oil Mills (Tomco) which was part of the Tata Group. Later, Tata Oil Mills
decided they needed a Managing Director for Lakme.
Simone on the other hand, had
left war-torn Europe and it was in India that she found peace and her future
life partner. Was she meant to play the role of the society wife of a
well-heeled businessman? Well, as matters turned out, she was contacted by a
director at Tata sons and asked if she could join the board of Lakme after it
was formed. She was told that it was a small time job, a couple of hours of
work every three months. Not long after she realized that it was much more, when
she found it a demanding job, though it was an unpaid one, for Lakme had no
money to pay a salary. Interestingly when the MD post of TOMCO was offered to
Simone, Naval was the first to say No! No!, and Simone questioned him on why he
was trying to decide on her behalf… Simone modelled the company around Revlon,
evolving in methods as time went. Initially she used her pocket money to visit
beauty parlors in Paris and learn the tricks of the trade, the various creams
and powders. But then again, marketing it in India was not easy, so the first
Lakme Lavender talc was actually advertised as a fabulous French fragrance. The
Lakme vanishing cream was launched simultaneously. So that was how she went on
to provide yeoman service and by hard work and dynamic focus, promoted Lakme to
position it a prominent jewel in the House of Tatas. Since then it ruled the
roost until 1986 when it was divested ironically to the same company Tomco had
competed with, the Lever organization Hindustan Lever for over 200 crores. Simone
continues her busy life immersed in the workings of the Westside stores and
other philanthropic matters.
But let us get back to the opera
Lakme one last time. Lakme in the story is more popular as a singer amongst her
people though the British officer was enchanted by her looks. The costumes and
posture of Lakme evoked some amount of curiosity, especially that of Lilly Pons
in New York. Her bare midriff caused quite a sensation above an apparently
original 200 year old Indian silk skirt which she wore. The play itself got a
further boost when British airways picked up one of the songs to play in its commercial
some decades ago. GK Bhoghal who studied the play opines that Delibes depiction
of Lakme promote a category of female extravagance that surpasses current
associations of excess with seduction, sensuality, insanity, promiscuity and
sexual deviance.
Like I do sometimes, I have to
leave a question at the end, much in the lines of the Canterbury tales, to
connect up with the next topic. What connection could Lakme or Lakshmi have
with Saint Sarah?
References
Exemplary CEOs: Insights on
Organisational Transformation - Shrinivas Pandit
Tata: Evolution of a Corporate
Brand - Morgen Witzel
The Arts of the Prima Donna in
the Long Nineteenth Century edited by Rachel Cowgill, Hilary Poriss
The Voyage to Excellence: The
Ascent of 21 Women Leaders of India Inc -Nischinta Amarnath, Debashish Ghosh
Theodore Pavie's ‘Les babouches
du Brahmane’ and the Story of Delibes's Lakme – Charles PD Cronin & Betje
Black Klier
The Creation of Wealth: The Tatas
from the 19th to the 21st Century - R. M. Lala
"Jeh", a Life of J.R.D.
Tata - Bakhtiar Dadabhoy
Lakme is set in British India in
the 19th century. Nilakantha, a Brahmin priest, is bent on rebelling against
the occupying British, who have forbidden him from practicing his religion.
When Nilakantha goes to attend a gathering of the faithful, his daughter Lakme
and her servant Millika are left behind. The two go off toward a river to
gather flowers and sing the famous "Flower Duet." As they approach
the water, Lakme removes her jewelry and leaves it on a bench. Nearby, British
officers Gerald and Frederic are on a picnic with two young English girls and
their governess. The girls notice Lakme's jewelry and want sketches of the
pieces. Gerald agrees to stay behind to make the drawings. Lakme and Mallika
return, and Gerald hides. Then Mallika goes off, leaving Lakme alone. When
Lakme spots Gerald, she's frightened and cries out. But when people come to
help, she sends them away. Lakme's heart is doing flip-flops over this young
stranger, and he's taken with her as
