Ardeshir godrej biography of barack

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Turning to locks, he dissected imported models, identifying flaws like fragile springs that snapped in tropical heat. Cama was interested, as he too had read the article, and promised to raise the necessary capital. Following the publication a subsequent article in Scientific American (26 May 1908) that revealed that most safes were in fact not fireproof, Ardeshir held a public demonstration to prove that the safes would protect the contents in the advent of a fire.

He then moved to Nasik, 185 km north of Bombay, to try his hand at farming. His father changed the family name to Godre in January 1871. When his attention was drawn to the fact that all soaps in the world contained tallow and other animal fats (inappropriate to many stringently vegetarian Hindus), he found a method to manufacture soap from vegetable oils, a procedure that everyone told him was impossible.

Today, his grandsons Adi, Nadir, and Jamshyd run the Godrej group.

Ardeshir resolved to build a safe that was not only burglarproof, but fireproof as well, which as he determined, most safes were not. When one attempted to do so, a bolt was thrown that could only be released with the correct key, and only if the key was first turned as if to unlock the lock. Only later did he begin production of simpler and cheaper tumbler locks, to which he attached a note that their security was not guaranteed.

Ardeshir welcomed the young engineer, renaming the firm Godrej & Boyce. Today, the Godrej Group, restructured in 2024 into Godrej Industries Group and Godrej Enterprises Group, spans consumer products (soaps, hair dyes), agrovet, properties, and aerospace boasting $5.7 billion in annual revenue and a family net worth topping $16.7 billion as of 2023.

Ardeshir made copious notes, and upon returning to Bombay, implemented many of the methods he observed on his European tour.

As Ardeshir would later say, it required him to make an assumption that he could not with a good conscience make, and would thus be wrong. Word spread like wildfire; jewelers, merchants, and even princely states clamored for Godrej’s wares. He soon discovered that the locks made in India were all fashioned by hand, a labour-intensive and inefficient means of manufacture, and Ardeshir resolved to manufacture a lock that would be guaranteed "unpickable".

Our keys are all deep-forged and machine-cut and not filed out by hand. Ardeshir Godrej’s story is one of resilient ingenuity a testament to how one man’s moral compass could unlock an industrial empire.

Roots in a Changing Empire: A Parsi Upbringing

Ardeshir entered the world on April 13, 1868, as the firstborn of six children to Burjorji and Dosibai Godrej in the bustling port city of Bombay, then the jewel in Britain’s imperial crown.

Although that venture was unsuccessful, Ardeshir did not cease to be the inventor. This enables us to make our locks as accurately as those by the best European makers. The demonstration was a resounding success, but it would not be until the Calcutta Dharamtalla Street fire of April 1925 when the safes demonstrated their worth in that conflagration.

Pirojsha’s sons Burjor, Sohrab, and Naval carried the torch, expanding into steel furniture, appliances, and real estate. The Godrejs originally surnamed Gootherajee traced their lineage to prosperous Parsi traders who had fled Zoroastrian persecution in Persia centuries earlier, seeking sanctuary in India.

Shortly before he left, Ardeshir visited Merwanji Cama again, this time to repay him for his 3,000 Rupee loan of so many years before. Ardeshir was made to feel welcome, and given a guided tour of the manufacturing facilities, giving Ardeshir the chance not only to observe how his competitor did things, but also to determine weaknesses in their products.