I have fond memories of many of his qualities. He was an extraordinary man with three different aspects to him. One, was his ability to dream his vision. They were always very big. His vision was to put India among global conglomerates and he was the first Indian to do it. Tata Tetley, Jaguar Range Rover and Corus are fine examples of how he took India to the global stage in the world of business.
With Tata Trust, he took on the mission of rural development and cancer treatment and he has made a huge contribution in both these spheres. To my recollection, Tata Trust is the single biggest contribution to cancer treatment in the country.
Second, is the technology aspect. He had an unbelievable grasp of emerging technologies across fields from medicine to physics, chemistry and engineering. Ratan Tata had a phenomenal head for understanding of these things and was an early mover in adopting many of these.
Thirdly, he took decisions with both head and heart. The way he reached out to people during the attack on Taj Hotel and how he looked after all of them is a mark of his humanity. Similarly, when he found out that cancer was the biggest non communicable disease in the North East, he took it as his mission to help people diagnosed with cancer across the region. From making big global acquisitions to taking on the mission of cancer treatment, I would call him a gentle giant.
Not just me, but all of us miss him, including the organization, the charities and India as a whole. He was an extraordinarily tall man of our times. We will all have to work together to fill that vacuum, I don’t think just one person can fill the space.
Another extraordinary quality about him was his humility. Every small person mattered. For example, there were a lot of people who wanted to take selfies with him, but finally, when the cleaning lady came, he refused the others. He took one with her because she had been cleaning his office for years. Even when I walked to him, at Taj, he would allow everybody to take selfies and greet him. He always had the time, kind words and smile for every ordinary person. He walked with kings, but did not lose the common touch.
(As told to Moneycontrol.)
(Venu Srinivasan is Chairman Emeritus of TVS Motor Company and Vice Chairman of Tata Trusts.)
Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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