I have had the privilege of interacting with Ratan Tata when I was CFO of ITPL.
I was the Tata nominee as CFO of ITPL, which was a joint venture between the Tatas and Ascendas of Singapore. As the Tata nominee, I was the one assigned to meet him and accompany him from the airport or to Board Meetings.
A thorough gentleman who defines the term, he was unfailingly courteous to me, just one of the CFO's of one of the many companies in the group, and a very small company at that.
During the drive to the meetings when I was alone with him in the car, he made it a point to not talk about work. I realised that he did not want to put me in a spot by putting me on the interrogation floor. His constant attempt was to ensure that I would be comfortable in his presence. He would keep the conversation light.
On one occasion when I went to pick him up at Raffles Hotel in Singapore, I was a bit early. I called him from the lobby; I obviously said I would wait for him. He would have none of that. He cancelled the breakfast that he had ordered to his room, and insisted on coming down to the coffee shop and having breakfast with me.
He would never allow anyone to carry his bag, or expect them to run any errands for him. This courtesy extended even to the drivers or hotel staff.
At the Board Meetings where he was Chairman, he never threw his weight around. His word was of course law, he didn't really need to demonstrate that he was the boss, but I believe that his politeness stemmed from an innate sense of humility.
Like Rajiv Gandhi who had no choice but to step into his mother's shoes to carry on the legacy, Mr Tata also landed into his inherited role. I have a feeling he was a reluctant satrap, he would probably have been more happy left to himself tending to his dogs. He was famous for his love of pets; the Taj Hotel's pet friendly policies are credited largely to him.
The legacy he leaves behind is mixed. He had his share of successes and failures, but he was respected as a man of his word. He would not renege on a deal even when he justifiably could have, even when it entailed a huge financial loss. I was witness to one such deal in telecom when I was in Bombay House handling telecom, where he went ahead with a deal with the RPG group when he could have legitimately backed out.
What we remember of a person is not their position, money or status, but their interactions with the rest of us. Ratan Tata was at the core, a decent human being.
May his soul attain peace. Om Shanti.
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