My standout memory of Ratan Tata as a person is represented by three I's -- ibadat (devotion), inayat (kindness) and insaniyat (humanity).
In all his approaches and transactions, he tried to meet the high standards of these three qualities.
When all three qualities came shining through
Take an impactful instance, the terror attack on Taj Hotel in Mumbai on 26 November 2008. All these qualities played out. There are many stories of how he stood there and went to meet victims, not only those from Tata group but also others. His approach was that he will not be cowed down or the Tatas will not be cowed down. Exactly a year later we restored the Taj for occupancy.
We had a 45-minute prayer meeting to inaugurate the hotel again. There were no VIPs. There were six priests from six different faiths. A permanent memorial was made for people who lost their lives.
His attitude during that painful period represent the three qualities rolled into one person.
Approach to risk and innovation
Financially, he was fairly conservative. But in terms of innovation, he was aggressive. Combining these two aspects is not easy. Imagine an emulsion. The inner part of the emulsion is financial conservatism. He made sure if things went wrong there was a fallback provision. As for the outer part, he was aggressive, out-of-the-box.
Indica, Nano, the acquisitions abroad, even the size and scale for their time, were unique. Why not, rather than why should we do it is reflected in the approach.
Investments in startups happened after his retirement and with his own funds.
An architect’s approach
He went abroad in the 1950s. He always had a desire to do design. But if you think back to late 1950s, the study of design was esoteric. Baloney, in popular perception!
His father, as far as I can remember, insisted on a “proper degree” and he studied engineering. He got a chance to do an elective and simultaneously completed a one-year course in architecture. So, he became an engineer-cum-architect.
The architect in him always showed in the way he approached things. It’s in a way that is different from an engineer.
It was like a toggle switch; he would switch on one or the other. For most people, there’s only one switch.
What is the fundamental difference?
When presented with a problem, an engineer says what is inside this? Step-by-step it’s broken down to find the bottlenecks. An architect, on the other hand, will say what is this a part of. Therefore, you come to very different conclusions.
One is the analysis, and the other is seeing the whole. Both are skills, the point is not that one of them is useless. They are different ways of looking at the same thing.
(As told to Moneycontrol.)
R Gopalakrishnan is a Corporate Advisor and former Director of Tata Sons.
Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Also read
Remembering Ratan Tata: A legacy of integrity, humanity, and compassion
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