New Delhi:

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of one of India’s biggest conglomerates, Tata Sons, got the reins of Tata Group in March 1991. Almost three decades ago, in 1997, Ratan Tata appeared on the show ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’ where he revealed how the takeover happened. JRD Tata was suffering from heart disease and was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai when he broke the news and asked Ratan Tata to take over.

“We were in Jamshedpur together for a function and I had to go to Stuttgart for some negotiations. When I came back, I heard he had a heart problem and he was in Breach Candy Hospital. He was there a week and I’d see him every day. He was out on a Friday and the following Monday, I went to see him in the office,” Ratan Tata recalled.

Narrating the incident, he added, “He would always start meeting by asking, ‘Well, what’s new?’ And I said, ‘J I’d been seeing you every day, there is nothing new since I saw you last.’ He said, ‘Well, I have something that is new that I want to tell you. Sit down. What has happened to me in Jamshedpur has made me think that I need to step down and I have decided that you should take my place.’ After a few days, he took it to the board.”

While Ratan Tata didn’t remember the date the news was broken to the board, Simi Garewal suggested it was March 25, 1991.

Further narrating the scene from the boardroom when “history was created” and how everyone “was moved”, he said, “I have heard many of my colleagues say that there was a history that day because apart from the fact that he was stepping down from a position that he had held for 40 to 50 years, there was a lot of emotion attached to his giving up this position in favour of someone. But the history and emotion that everyone talks about is not that move.”

JRD Tata revisited all the years he had put into the business. “He reminisced through years at that meeting and I can’t reproduce any of that emotionally or otherwise but that meeting went on like an archival recount of all his days in Tata. Never his own praise but his experiences as he went through. There was history that day and we all came out very moved.”

It was the end of an era and at the same time, the beginning of a new one.

When asked what he learned from JRD Tata, which he carries with him, Ratan Tata said, it is his sense of justice which was prevalent. “His value system, his simplicity, and his sense of justice have stayed with me and I hope I can emulate them even half.”

Ratan Tata, 86, died on Wednesday night. He was admitted to Mumbai’s Breach Candy hospital in a critical condition, where he breathed his last. Ever since then, his previous interviews have been doing rounds on the internet.

Mumbai:

The final rites of Ratan Naval Tata – the industrialist with a heart of gold – were performed with full State honours at a Mumbai crematorium this afternoon.

Home Minister Amit Shah was among the many high-profile dignitaries on hand to pay their final respects to Mr Tata; he stands in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is en route to Laos to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits. Mr Modi last night hailed Mr Tata as a “an extraordinary human being”.

Mr Shah was accompanied by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Earlier today  Ratan Tata lay in state, wrapped in the national flag, at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Nariman Point, before his body was transported to the crematorium in Worli, a distance of 12 km.

Thousands lined the streets to bid goodbye to one of their own, an unassuming Mumbai-born and bred ‘chhotu‘ who transformed the Tata brand into a global powerhouse.

And the country’s most powerful politicians were joined by its most influential celebrities – actors and sportspersons – and the country’s richest, including the Ambanis and the Adanis, in paying their respects.

Maharashtra has announced a day of mourning as a mark of respect for a business leader and philanthropist admired in India and abroad for his simplicity, sincerity, and humanity.

READ | Ratan Naval Tata: Industrialist, Philanthropist, And Indian Icon

Ratan Tata’s contributions to the industrial and development sectors, to the economy and to the lives of tens of thousands of men and women, are too many to count.

Some, perhaps, deserve mention, such as the ‘revenge’ purchase of luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which heralded India’s arrival on the global automotive stage, and his commitment to the welfare of dogs, exemplified by the Rs 165 crore hospital in Mumbai.

READ | The Jaguar Land Rover Story:  Ratan Tata’s ‘Revenge’ For Ford Snub

But his death unquestionably marks the end of an era; he was, perhaps, the last of his kind, someone who, despite fabulous privilege, never appeared to flaunt his wealth.

Indeed, Mr Tata could never be found on a list of billionaires simply because he donated the vast majority – 60 to 65 per cent, if some sources are to be believed – of his income.

The End

Ratan Tata died at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital late last night at the age of 86.

READ | Ratan Tata, Industry Legend National Icon, Dies At 86

He was admitted Monday but, as was his nature, played down any fuss, declaring he was undergoing routine age-related medical check-ups. “There is no cause for concern. Thank you for thinking of me…”

Thank you for thinking of me pic.twitter.com/MICi6zVH99

— Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) October 7, 2024

Hours later, just as discreetly and quietly, the Tata family broke the news.

“It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation,” the group’s Chairperson, N Chandrasekaran, said.

As the news spread the outpouring of grief underlined Mr Tata’s stature, but it was a fellow industrial titan, Anand Mahindra, who best captured the emotions of 145 crore Indians.

“I am unable to accept…” he said.

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