Ratan Tata, the man who steered the Tata Group to become a global brand with its acquisition of global companies such as Corus, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tetley and helped the Tata Conglomerate become a globally trusted brand, passed away on Wednesday at 11.30 PM – 9 October 2024, at the Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai marking an end to an era that will be remembered not only for his outstanding contributions to Indian industry and nation building but also for his illustrious philanthropy and for the values he upheld throughout his life. He was 86.
I was among one of tens of thousands of people who lined up to pay respects to Ratan Tata, whose mortal remains, befittingly draped in the national flag, were placed for the public to pay their respect at the lawns of the National Centre for Performing Arts, Mumbai. The organisers had made excellent arrangements for the public to pay their respects to Ratan Tata by arranging an adequate water supply and very cordial volunteers and police who guided the people who stood in line in long queues to reach the place to pay their respects. There was a separate gate for VIPs to pay their respect, and another gate for the public, notwithstanding a temptation to use some contacts to pass through the VIP gate, I preferred standing in the public Q and paid my last respects by offering flowers and bowing down to bid goodbye to the true “Ratan of India” – Jewel - the one and only Ratan Tata.
His humility and simplicity - and that too at a time when ostentatious living receives global headlines and who’s who line up for such events, as witnessed in the recent event that unfolded in Mumbai - stands testimony to the man, whose exemplary achievements notwithstanding, who earned the unending love and respect among his countrymen. This was evidenced by the rich tributes that have continued flowing in since his passing. Everyone, starting from the Honourable President of India to the Prime Minister and almost all Chief Ministers and innumerable other politicians, every businessman, celebrity, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens - including yours truly - who paid their tribute to Ratan Tata. On his passing away, an era has ended.
I am personally privy to the exemplary
simplicity and humility of Ratan Tata, which I witnessed in December 2013,
during the inauguration of an exhibition titled “The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient
Persia” at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) Mumbai. This
exhibition was organised by the CSMVS in partnership with the British
Museum and Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and Navajbai Ratan
Tata Trust. The Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most significant objects to have
survived from the ancient world. This historically important clay cylinder object
with inscriptions in Babylonian cuneiform, which is from the collections of
the British Museum, evidences the proclamation of the Achaemenid King
Cyrus the Great (539 BCE) at the time of his conquest of Babylon. This object
has great significance to the Parsi community, many of who, including Ratan
Tata, have made Mumbai their home.
It was for the first time that the Crus Cylinder was traveling to India from the British Museum as a part of the exhibition. Mr Mukherjee, DG of CSMVS, informed me how Mr Ratan Tata came to the rescue of the CSMVS Museum when they were finding it difficult to arrange financial resources for the exhibition. Mr. Mukherjee, met Mr. Ratan Tata at the Tata House soliciting his support for the exhibition. Mr Tata’s words made a huge difference and the Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust came forward to support this exhibition and the rest is history. In December 2013 when this exhibition was inaugurated at CSMVS, I was the Director of NGMA Mumbai. CSMVS had invited the then Honourable Culture Minister, Ms. Chandresh Kumari Katoch for the opening of the exhibition and I was tasked to be the nodal officer in Mumbai for the Ministry of Culture, and I had to accompany the Minister and make all the arrangements as per the protocol. The inaugural event went off smoothly and during the vote of thanks Mr Mukherjee, rightly heaped praises on Ratan Tata and recalled how his support made this exhibition possible. Lo and behold, to all our surprise and also the surprise of everyone sitting on the dais, including the Hon. Culture Minister, someone mentioned that Ratan Tata was present in the audience and he was somewhere in the back rows. This exemplifies the simplicity and humility par excellence of the man. Although the exhibition was funded by the Tata Trusts, and Ratan Tata was the Honorary Chairman of the Tata Group, yet Ratan Tata preferred to be in the audience like any other common invitee. It was only after the appeal and request by Mr. Mukherjee and Ms. Katoch, the Honourable Minister, that Mr. Ratan Tata hesitantly walked towards the front rows and received a warm welcome and appreciation from the Minister, Mr. Mukherjee, and other dignitaries from the dais and I was one of those who had the honour to shake hands with him on that day. This event and the simplicity and humility exhibited by Ratan Tata have remained etched in my memory.
As the torchbearer of the illustrious Tata group leadership legacy that began with the legendary founder of the Tata Group – Sir Jamshedji Tata (1868-1904) who founded the company in 1868, and passed the baton to his able son Sir Dorab Tata (1904–1932), followed by Sir Nowroji Saklatwala (1932–1938) and JRD Tata (1938–1991) – Ratan Tata who served as the Chairman of the Tata Group from 1991-2012, has upheld the ideals set by his worthy predecessors while steering the Tata Group to new heights with grace, humility, and a deep commitment to philanthropy not just for human society but also for animals, and societal welfare. He was also a great supporter of art and culture and the CSMVS Museum is one of the major beneficiaries of the Tata philanthropy.
Ratan Tata’s leadership is best defined by a rare combination of business acumen and genuine care for people. Whether it was his audacious decision to take over international brands like Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea, or his relentless push for the "people's car," Tata Nano, his vision extended far beyond immediate profits. Though the Nano project faced several hiccups including a shutdown in Singur, West Bengal, and may not have achieved the financial success he had hoped for, the Nano car sparked a culture of innovation within Tata Motors, laying the groundwork for a range of world-class vehicles the Tata Motors produces today. I am privy to the extraordinary quality of Tata Motors courtesy of my close friend Mr Sangamnath Digge, who was the plant head at Tata Motors in Pune. Ratan Tata’s ability to dream big, coupled with his perseverance in pursuing even the most challenging goals, was a testament to his unwavering belief in Indian industry and ingenuity.
Ratan Tata's legacy goes beyond the boardroom and financial bottom lines. His decision to acquire Corus Steel was more than a strategic move —it was a symbolic moment of redemption for India and for the founder of the Tata group, Sir Jamshedji Tata, who had faced humiliation when he proposed to establish a Tata Steel Company to the British who were then ruling us in the early 1900s. An apocryphal belief has it that when Jamshedji Tata approached the British to start the steel company, he was challenged by a British Officer, that if Tata could produce steel to the exacting standards of British Steel, he would be happy to chew that steel. Lo and Behold within a few years of this humiliation, Tatas successfully established their Tata Steel plant in Jamshedpur, under the able leadership of Dorabjee Tata, Tata Steel was able to produce tonnes and tonnes of steel. It was providential justice that Tata Steel under the leadership of Ratan Tata ended up buying Corus Steel a company that had acquired British Steel company. Tata Steel company grew in stature under the leadership of Ratan Tata from a company that was once ridiculed by the British to one that could stand toe-to-toe with its former colonial rulers. Ratan Tata’s business moves were not just about growth—they were about restoring pride and building on the indomitable spirit of Indian enterprise, which has not only paid off for the Tata Group but also has helped in establishing brand India globally whose benefits the Indian Industry is now reaping.
What truly set Ratan Tata apart was his humility,
simplicity, and his grounded nature, besides his philanthropy and compassion
for the poor and marginalised and so also for animals – street dogs, in
particular. In a world where wealth often leads to extravagance, Ratan Tata
remained humble, living a life that was in stark contrast to the ostentatious
lifestyles of many of his peers. His decision to appoint Natarajan
Chandrasekaran as the Chairman of Tata Sons, someone from outside the Tata
family, speaks volumes about his meritocratic approach and his desire to see
the Tata Group thrive under capable leadership, irrespective of lineage.
It was providential that Ratan Tata was handed over the baton of the Chairmanship of Tata Group from another legendary Tata – Bharat Ratna, JRD Tata, in 1991, a period when India opened up its economy to the world and an era of economic liberalisation was set in courtesy the policies of the Narasimha Rao Government, under Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was then the Finance Minister responsible for economic liberalisation. At that time, the Tata Group was mostly an Indian conglomerate with annual revenues of around 4.5 billion, US $. Under the visionary leadership of Ratan Tata, the Group expanded to over 100 billion US $ in revenue by the time he passed on the baton to his immediate successor, in 2012.
Ratan Tata also played a crucial role in shaping Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) into a global IT powerhouse. He had the foresight to support leaders like Ramadorai, under whose leadership TCS would become a beacon of Indian technological prowess. Ratan Tata must also receive due credit for TCS's rise to international prominence and for shaping the IT industry in the country, which is now a force to reckon with in international forums. Incidentally, TCS Foundation has supported CSMVS, where I work now as an Advisor, in the major restoration of the CSMVS building and also in modernising the two Tata galleries. Courtesy of the support of TCS, the CSMVS was awarded the highest Award of Excellence at the UNESCO Asia Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2022. Today, the Tata Group, leveraging on the foresight and visionary leadership of Ratan Tata, operates in over 100 countries, with a strong presence in industries, ranging from steel and automobiles to IT services and consumer goods,
Through all these achievements, Ratan Tata
remained the same person, a man of vision, compassion, wisdom, and
extraordinary leadership. Ratan Tata was not only a giant in business in which
he excelled but also a philanthropist who true to the ideals of the founder –
Jamshedji Tata - believed that businesses must serve society. The Tata Group,
under his leadership, continued its long-standing tradition of philanthropy,
contributing to education, healthcare, and rural development, ensuring that the
company’s growth always had a positive impact on society, which it continues to
do so.
Ratan Naval Tata was born in Mumbai on 28th December 1937 to Naval Tata (the adopted son of Sir Ratan Tata - son of the founder of the Tata group Jamsetji Tata and younger brother of Sir Dorabji Tata) and Sonoo Tata. Unfortunately, when Ratan Tata was just 10 years old, his parents got divorced. Ratan Tata and his brother, Jimmy Tata, were brought up by his paternal grandmother, Lady Navajbai, wife of Sir Ratan Tata. Navajbai Tata and her husband, Sir Ratan Tata were connoisseurs of art. They acquired best of art collections of jade and European, paintings and other artefacts from across the world, which they travelled extensively. After the death of her husband, who died at a young age of 41, Navajbai Tata donated most of their art collections to the CSMVS (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum) when it was opened to the public in January 1922. One large exhibition hall on the second floor of the CSMVS museum, which has completed its centenary, befittingly called the Sir Ratan Tata gallery, houses these art collections that have been seen been tens of millions of visitors ever since the opening of the CSMVS museum in 1922. Navajbai Tata, after the death of her husband settled in Mumbai in the house which we know today as Tata House, and lived there for the rest of her life. It was here in the Tata House that young Ratan Tata and his brother grew up under the motherly love and care of their grandmother, Navajbai Tata.
Navajbai Tata was a great philanthropist whose philanthropy extended
beyond the donations of art which she made to the CSMVS Museum. In fact, she
also bore all the expenses for the best of display cases where these arts could
be displayed in the museum. Her philanthropy went beyond donating her art
collections to the CSMVS Museum. She gifted in charity various houses which she
inherited from Sir Ratan Tata for the aged and poor Parsi women. Navajbai
became the Chairperson of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and also a key member of
the Tata Sons board. Using resources from the Trust, she undertook several philanthropic
initiatives in various spheres to alleviate poverty and improve the quality of
life of the economically challenged. Perhaps these philanthropic attributes and
love and compassion for the poor and marginalised, which Ratan Tata exhibited
all through his life was imbibed in him from his younger days living with his grandmother,
Navajbai Tata, whom he loved immensely.
Young Ratan Tata bloomed under the love
and care of his loving grandmother Navajbai Tata. He completed his early
schooling at Campion School and John Connon School in Mumbai. He then left
Mumbai for the US to pursue his graduation. He was advised by his father to
pursue his engineering degree, although architecture was what he wished to
study. Ratan Tata completed both his engineering degree and also received his
degree in Architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University,
U.S.A. Later he also completed an advanced management programme at the Harvard
Business School.
Life in the US, Los Angeles, where Ratan Tata lived fascinated him and he had more or less decided to settle in Los Angeles, California. It must be remembered that the decades of the later part of the 50s and sixties were a fascinating time in the now famous Bay Area, Silicon Valley, California. Nobelist, William Shockley had started his Shockley Semiconductor company in the Bay area and eight of his best engineers and scientists deserted Shockley to start Fair Child Semiconductor company which became the starting point for the growth of unending innovation in the area which believed in a completely different lifestyle under which creativity and innovation thrived leading to the Silicon Valley which we see today that has given birth to giant companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and many others. Ratan Tata must have been witness to this culture in his days in the US.
His life in the US was short-lived. In early 1962, Ratan Tata got a message that his grandmother, Navajbai Tata was unwell motivating Ratan Tata to change his mind and return back to India to be with his grandmother. Incidentally, on his return to India, Ratan Tata wanted to join IBM Company. In one of his interviews, he talked about this and said that he did not even have a CV when he went for a Job at IBM, which he had to share with the company for his interview. He had to type out his CV on the spot. However, his interest in joining IBM was interrupted when he was asked to join the Tata Group company.
Ratan Tata started his career in the Tata
Group companies in 1962. His first job was to work on the shop floor. From the
kind of Hippie culture that he was becoming habitual of living in Los Angeles,
he had to adapt to this new lifestyle of a strenuous and difficult shop floor job
in Tata. This experience later came in handy for Ratan Tata in gaining
experience and understanding of the business from bottom up. Ratan Tata
got his first opportunity to exhibit his leadership qualities when he was made
the Director-in-charge of the NELCO (National Radio and Electronics Company
Ltd) in the year 1971. NELCO was passing through a phase of financial crisis
phase. Although, Ratan Tata worked hard to build an improved consumer
electronics division, but the problems that the company faced due to unyielding
union issues, and also the extant economic recession, made it impossible for
the company to succeed.
He got another opportunity to prove his efficiency in management, when he was transferred to Empress Mills, in the year 1977. This was another struggling Tata Group unit. Although Ratan Tata tried his best to revive this century old textile company by working out a plan for its revival, the existing union issues and so also non-cooperation from the company executives in accepting his plans resulted in yet another failure for Ratan Tata and the result was the mill had to shut down.
This led to Ratan Tata moving back to the Tata Industries. In 1981, he was named Chairman of Tata Industries, the group’s other holding company, where he was responsible for transforming it into a group strategy think tank and a promoter of new ventures in high-technology businesses. This experience helped Ratan Tata to be recognised by the legendary JRD Tata who mentored Ratan Tata. JRD Tata had led the Tata group from 1938, when he had become the Chairman of the group at a young age. One fine day, after JRD Tata was discharged from the Breach Candy Hospital where he was admitted for an ailment, he called Ratan Tata to his office in the Tata House and expressed his desire to anoint him as his successor to be the Chairman of the Tata Group. It was a momentous occasion for Ratan Tata, who willingly agreed to the advice of his mentor. JRD Tata took his recommendation to the Board and convinced them to accept Ratan Tata, his choice, to be his successor as the Chairman of the Tata Group. There were murmurs of objections from other executives amid concern regarding his ability to manage the responsibilities, which were short-lived.
On becoming the head of the Tata Group in
1991, he used the opportunity of economic liberalisation, which was beginning to
unfold in India, to chalk out plans and strategy to successfully improve the
organisation’s overall position. He modified the management and vision of the
division and also managed to increase the dividends. His achievements as the
Chairman of the Tata Group have been elaborately listed earlier in this essay. He
expanded the vision of the group and helped the Tata group to go global. Among
the global companies that Ratan Tata helped Tata’s acquire, during his leadership
include the acquisition of Tetley the British tea giant, which was acquired by
Tata’s for 450 million US $. This was one of the first major overseas purchases
by an Indian company. This marked Tata's entry into the global beverage market.
In the year 2007, Tata Steel acquired Corus for 13 billion US $. The
acquisition of Corus made Tata one of the world's largest steel producers. Tata
Motors acquired the internationally famed automobile company, Jaguar Land Rover
in the year 2008. With this 2.3 billion US $ acquisition, Ratan Tata transformed
Tata Motors into a global automotive player in control of these iconic British
car brands. This deal helped Tata Motors resurrect the luxury car brands.
Mr Ratan N. Tata was the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, from 1991 till his retirement on December 28, 2012. During his tenure, the group’s revenues grew manifold, totalling over $100 billion in 2011-12. After retirement, Mr Tata was conferred the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals. He also served as the Chairman of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Allied Trusts, and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Allied Trusts. He was also the Chairman of the Council of Management of the premier research institute in India, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). He also served on the board of trustees of Cornell University and the University of Southern California.\
For his yeomen service to the nation, he was awarded innumerable awards and recognitions including the coveted Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards from the Government of India. The Government of Maharashtra has unanimously moved a resolution to nominate his name for the highest honours of the country, Bharat Ratna, posthumously. He richly deserves this recognition from the country for whose development he has strived all through his life contributing immensely in nation building the fruits of which India is beginning to harvest.
Ratan Tata’s legacy will endure in the institutions he nurtured, the lives he touched, and the countless innovations that bear his hallmark. In his demise India and the world has lost not just a great industrialist, but a greatest of human being. His vision, humility, and contributions to the nation will be remembered for generations to come.
Rest in Peace respected Ratan Tata.
Om Shanti.
Image Credits :
First Image : Courtesy CSMVS, Mumbai
Second Image : Wikipaedia
