Ratan Tata ...
In His Own Words !
“I had a happy childhood, but as my brother & I got older, we faced ragging because of our parent’s divorce, which in those days wasn’t as common. My grandmom brought us up.
"Soon after, when my mother remarried, the boys at school started saying all kinds of things about us. But our grandmother taught us to retain dignity at all costs, a value that’s always stayed with me. It involved walking away from these situations instead of fighting back.
"And if it weren’t for grandmom, I wouldn’t be half the person I am today.
"My father and I couldn’t agree on the same thing – I wanted to go to college in the US, he insisted on UK. I wanted to be an architect, he insisted on me becoming an engineer. If it weren’t for my grandmother, I wouldn’t have ended up at Cornell University in the US. It was because of her that even though I enrolled for mechanical engineering, I switched majors & graduated with a degree in architecture. My father was upset, but I was finally my own, independent person in college & it was my grandmother who taught me that courage to speak up can also be soft.
"After college, I landed a job at an architecture firm in LA, where I worked for 2 years. It was a great time – the weather was beautiful & I loved my job. It was in LA that I fell in love & almost got married. But at the same time I’d made the decision to move back, at least temporarily, since grandmom wasn’t keeping too well. So I came back to visit her & thought that the person I wanted to marry would come to India with me, but because of the 1962 Indo-China war her parent’s weren’t okay with her making the move anymore & the relationship fell apart.
"After the move, I did spend some time with my grandmom. I’d run with my dog, catch up with her & we’d have long chats. I’m glad I got that time with her before she passed, because right after I moved to Jamshedpur for an internship at what’s known as Tata Motors now.
It was a waste of time – I was moved from one department to another & since I was a family member, no one told me what to do – I spent 6 months trying to be ‘useful’.
"It was only after I moved to Tata Steel that I got specific work & my job got interesting. I started from the floor & understood the plight of those working there. So years later, when we downsized Tata Steel from 78,000 to 40,000, we ensured to pay them their present day wages until retirement–it’s been in our DNA to serve those who serve us.
"Then, in 1991, JRD stepped down as the Chairman of Tata Industries and then from Tata Sons, there was vicious criticism.
There were other aspirants, who were vocal of him having made the wrong decision. I had been through this before, so I did what I knew best–maintained silence & focused on proving myself.
The criticism was personal–JRD got clubbed with nepotism & I, as the wrong choice. I was under scrutiny, but the time I spent on the floor served as a big plus – I hadn’t gotten there from nowhere!
"All in all, it was a big move. I remember after I was appointed Chairman, I walked with JRD to his office, where he told his secretary that he had to move out. I said, ‘No, J, don’t move out, this is your office for as long as you want.’ He said, ‘Where will you sit?’ I said, ‘Where I’m sitting today–I have an office down the hall & that’s fine.’
"I was lucky to have him there. He was my greatest mentor & the years that he was alive, I used to go into his office & say, ‘J, I wish this had happened 10 years ago, we have such a great relationship.’ He was like a father & a brother to me & not enough’s been said about that.
"Ever since, my life has been for & about growing the company. When I was appointed Chairman, it was believed my surname got me the position, but my focus was on creating something bigger than us all & on giving back, which has been in the TATA DNA since the start.
With Jamshedpur for instance, while our workers were thriving, the surrounding villages were suffering. It became our goal to uplift their quality of life as well … things like these came naturally to us.
"Even with the Nano – I remember seeing a family of 4 on a bike in the heavy Bombay rain—I wanted to do more for these families who were risking their lives for lack of an alternative. By the time we launched the Nano, our costs were higher, but I’d made a promise & we delivered. Looking back, I’m proud of the car & the decision to go ahead with it.
"That’s what my life has been about—work became a lifestyle. I was always at Bombay House or travelling, that’s why even though I came close to marriage with 2-3 different partners, I couldn’t go through with it because they’d have to adjust to my lifestyle & that didn’t sit right with me.
"Now that I’m retired, that lifestyle has changed again. People ask if I’m truly ‘retired’ & to that I say—there’s no doubt about it. I’m enjoying the separation from the company—I don’t look at newspapers & worry about the bad stuff anymore.
"But let me tell you, retirement isn't about playing golf, or reading on a beach, whilst sipping on a cocktail. In fact, never before has the urge to do more, been greater. From affordable cancer treatment, to making the lives in rural India easier—I’m looking forward to making it happen at the Tata Trust. I’m trying to enjoy myself to be honest— I’m spending time with friends —old & new, across age groups, who I’m constantly learning from.
"At 82, I’m still learning, so when you ask me to give advice, I feel like the ‘right advice’ changes over a period of time—but the one thing that remains unchanged is the desire to do the right thing.
"So I’ll say this —leave the advice & do the right thing, even if it isn’t the easiest thing to do. When you look back at your life, that’s what’s going to matter the most. Doing the right thing.”
Ratan Tata led the 156-year-old Tata group for just about 20 years. But the changes that he brought in in those two decades were vital in keeping the group’s reputation as India’s foremost industrial house.Ratan Tata took the reins of the group from his illustrious predecessor, J.R.D. Tata at a time India had just opened its doors to global companies. Tata group’s annual turnover was just about 4 billion US dollars when he took over in 1991. It was 100 billion dollars when he retired in 2012. And he has a left a legacy that cannot be measured by counting zeroes.
JRD Tata handed over the reins of Tata Group to Ratan Tata in March 1991.
Speaking of the board meeting in which the announcement was made that Ratan Tata would be the new chairman, the businessman recalled that JRD Tata revisited all the years he had put in into the business. “I have heard many of my colleagues say that there was 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. He reminisced through years at that meeting and I can’t reproduce it 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, we all came out very moved," he said.
Unveiled in 1998 at the Auto Expo in Pragati Maidan, Tata’s first foray into passenger vehicles was game-changing. And behind it was the vision of one man: Ratan Tata.
Ratan’s predecessor, JRD Tata, had dreamt of launching a fully indigenous family car. But the government’s policies at the time did not allow him to proceed. The idea of Indica came up only after 1991 — when JRD stepped down and named Ratan as Tata Sons chairman, and India’s economy underwent structural reforms.
About 15 years ago, Ratan Tata promised something that would shake up the Indian vehicle market – Tata Nano, a car that would cost just Rs 1 lakh and fulfil the middle-class dream of owning a four-wheeler. It became commonly known as the Lakhtakia car, the Hindi equivalent of a Rs 1 lakh car. This was they say, after he saw a family of four riding on a motor bike in Mumbai.
The proposal, though, faced significant roadblocks. His proposed car factory at Singur in Bengal – this was when Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as the CPI(M)’s Bengal Chief Minister was trying to attract investment to the state and change the direction of his party – got caught in a land acquisition row, as Mamata Banerjee, keen to replace the CPI(M), launched a movement against the plan.
Tata did not wait long for the Singur crisis to resolve. Deft at doing business with politicians while maintaining enough of a distance, he bagged a deal from Narendra Modi, the then CM of Gujarat who was trying to build an industry-friendly image, to set up the car factory at Sanand in Gujarat instead.
Ratan Tata, the former Tata Group chairperson who headed the empire famously known for its salt to software imprint on Indian lives, made just one foray into the entertainment industry. And it didn't work.
"Aetbaar", co-produced by Tata Infomedia and Cutting Edge Entertainment Productions, tanked at the box office. Inspired by the 1996 Hollywood movie "Fear", the psychological thriller starred Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu and was directed by Vikram Bhatt.
With name and fame and responsibilities obviously there would be differences in opinions and controversy too. Some well known ones are:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/indianexpress.com/article/business/ratan-tata-singur-mistry-tata-tapes-wadia-controversies-9613283/lite/https://www.google.com/amp/s/indianexpress.com/article/business/ratan-tata-singur-mistry-tata-tapes-wadia-controversies-9613283/lite/
Official announcement was made, but it was not a holiday for the company. That is how he would have liked it to be. But yes, over 300 community Durga Puja committees in Jamshedpur refrained from playing music and cancelled cultural programmes on Thursday as a mark of respect to Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Naval Tata, who died in a Mumbai hospital a day ago. A senior functionary of the Central Durga Puja Committee of the city said some of the organisers have also put up Tata's photograph beside the marquees.
"We have appealed to all the community puja committees to observe the festival in a simple manner and urged them not to play any music, barring mandatory instruments like 'dhak' (drum) etc, to pay respect to Ratan Tata," General Secretary of the Central Puja Committee, Ashutosh Kumar Singh, told PTI.
There are many thoughts and lessons from him, here are a few:
The Family Tree:
Jamsetji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group was born to Nusserwanji Ratan Tata and Jeevanbai Kavasji Tata, in 1939. apart from Jamsetji, Nusserwanji had four other children — Ratanbai, Maneckbai, Virbaiji, Jerbai.
Born into a family of Parsi priests, Jamsetji broke the tradition as he started his own trading firm in 1868 at a young age of 29. He started with a textile mill in central India in the 1870s. His vision later set the foundation for technical education in India and helped the nation to be counted among the industrialised nations.
Jamsetji married Hirabai Daboo and had three children — Sir Dorabji Tata, Dhunbai Tata and Sir Ratan Tata.
Dorabji, the elder son of Jamsetji, was instrumental in translating his father’s vision into reality. It was under his leadership that the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust was created, propelling the Tata tradition of philanthropy. Jamsetji’s younger son, Ratan, was a philanthropist who created a trust to fund educational development, alleviate human sufferings and other public utility works.
Sir Ratan Tata married Navjbai Sett and adopted Naval H Tata. Naval married Sonoo Commisariat and had two sons — Ratan N Tata and Jimmy N Tata. But Naval and Soonoo divorced when Ratan N Tata was only 10 years old. Naval later married Simone Dunoyer and with her, had a son, Noel Tata. Noel is Ratan and Jimmy’s half brother.While Ratan and Jimmy never married, Noel tied knot with Aloo Mistry, sister of late Cyrus Mistry, who served as Chairman of Tata Group. Noel and Aloo have three children — Leah Tata, Maya Tata and Neville Tata.
Neville is married to Manasi Kirloskar and together they have two children – Jamset Tata and Tiana Tata.
Again, Jeevanbai Kavasji Tata’s brother Dadabhai Kavasji Tata (adopted son of Kavasji Maneckji Tata) had a son with his wife Bhikhibai. Dadabhai’s son Ratanji Dadabhai Tata married a French woman Suzanne Briere. They had five children — Syla Petit, Jehangir Ratanji Dababhai Tata, Rodabeh Tata, Darab Tata and Jimmy Tata.
Many of us felt lost at the demise of the great humanitarian, Mr Ratan Tata.
But to no surprise, he has given life lessons.
A human is remembered for his deeds and his impact on other’s lives.
As many have mentioned, Ratan Tata has been known for his philanthropy and kindness to fur babies. Yes, he is a giver; employer for many, lover of animals, and owner of many lives
Let us respect our legend, by giving out what we can.
Let us give smiles to those who are in need;
Let us give shoulders to those who are desperate;
Let us give ears to those who want to talk;
Let us give love, to those who are around;
Let us feed a bird which flew miles;
Let us pat a dog which looks out for one;
Let us water the plants, which are deserted;
Let us give back to nature, which offers us life.
#gratitude #mentalhealth
A note on his grandmother, can we call her the driver of his destiny?
Ratan Tata’s grandmother Navajbai Tata was a philanthropist, first woman director of Tata Sons
Brand Custodian of Tata Sons.
Ratan Tata’s paternal grandmother, whose birth anniversary was marked last week, on September 23, was a woman who stood tall. She was the first woman director of Tata Sons – a position she assumed in 1925 – and was known to be a generous philanthropist. The group paid its tribute to Lady Navajbai Tata last week.
“She was the first woman Director of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group. Appointed a Director in 1925, she held the position right until her demise in 1965,”
Lady Navajbai Tata was married to Sir Ratan Tata, who was the younger son of Jamsetji Tata. She was widowed in 1918, at the age of 41 years but managed the vast estate after that.
Navajbai was also known for her generosity. When a social worker requested her to establish a convalescent home, she donated her manor in Matheran, ‘Homestead’, for the cause, along with a donation of Rs 3 lakh. The amount was significantly large for that time.
She established the Sir Ratan Tata Institute (RTI) in Mumbai in 1928. The objective was to provide employment to the poor and needy women and training them and offering them livelihoods. “Needy women were trained in cookery, hand embroidery, tailoring and laundry divisions,”
‘We don’t sell broken businesses; we fix them.’ - Ratan Tata.
A snippet from yearbook, Riverdale Country School,1955.
A dog lover, during the last decade, as he was going through lot of turmoil internally, with the Cyrus Mistry battle he was instrumental in supporting an young boy whom he addressed as a friend, an younger brother.
The legal battle moved to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and finally, came to the apex court. The top court, on March 26, 2021, upheld Mistry's removal as the executive chairman of the Tata Group and brought the curtains down on the bitter public and legal battle.
In 2022 Mistry passed away in a tragic road accident, soon after his father's death. He was the BIL of his half brother who is now the Chairman of the group.
Once, in a telephone interview, a radio host asked Ratan Tata, "What has been the happiest moment in your life?" He replied:
"I have gone through four different stages of happiness in life, and in the end, I realized what true happiness is.
The first stage was when I earned a lot of money and wealth. But I didn’t find the happiness I desired there. Then came the second stage. At that point, I began collecting valuable things. I soon realized that this happiness too was only temporary. After that, I moved into the third stage. Here, I started several new projects. Soon, I was in charge of distributing 95% of oil in India and Africa. I also became the owner of the largest steel factory in India and Asia. But still, I couldn’t find the happiness I dreamed of.
Finally, the fourth stage arrived. It was like this: Once, a friend of mine told me that we should buy and donate wheelchairs for 200 disabled children. I did so immediately. He then insisted that I personally attend the event to distribute them. I agreed. I personally handed over the wheelchairs to all 200 children. As they accepted them, I saw a certain wild light of joy on their faces. It was as if they had all just arrived at a scenic picnic spot. That day, I understood what true happiness was.
As I was about to leave, one child clung tightly to my legs. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. Finally, I asked him, 'Do you want something else?' Looking directly at my face, the child said, 'I want to remember your face well, so that tomorrow, when we meet in heaven, I can thank you again.'
So, dear friends, we must realize that true happiness doesn’t lie in money, power, or fame. It lies in embracing others and including them in our lives."
Tribute — Ratan Naval Tata 🙏🏼🌹
His half sisters and daughter of Soonoo and Sri Jamsetjiee Jejeebhoy
Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, Darius Khambata and Mehil Mistry executors of his will.
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