I Came Upon a Lighthouse ~ Shantanu Naidu (109 of 2024)

The book, published in 2021 by Harper Collins, is a short memoir of life with Ratan Tata' as claimed by the writer Shantanu Naidu, the trusted assistant of Mr. Tata, who had a much closer personal relationship with him. He warns his readers that the book is a result more of heart and story and less of artistic capability.' The book has brilliant artwork by Sanjan Desai, which captures the tone of the content effectively. The book is an illustrated memoir of Naidu's candid interaction with Tata over five years. 

It starts with a note by Ratan Tata himself, which briefly tells the reader how he met Shantanu and how their association developed. One could say that the remainder of the book is a detailed expansion of this note in a deeper and more personal tone. It begins with how the author, who comes from a family in which the members worked with Tatas for generations, met Ratan Tata for the first time when he decided to create a start-up that helped street dogs. Tata, who also loved animals, was impressed with the idea and invested in it. Thus began a companionship that continued through his education in an Ivy League college and his career as the Deputy General Manager in Ratan Tata's office. 

Chapters in the book are:

Santanus Great Grandfather worked for Tata Power, Grandfather for Tata Electrical, Father  for Tata Motors, cousin for Tata Consultancy and Santanu for Tata Elxsi.

The book doesn't offer much insight into the personal or professional life of Ratan Tata. It do mention about his house name being 'Halekai' Hawaiian for 'house by the sea'. The book he liked is 'The Art of Racing in the Rain '

Entire slums are run by slum lords who are impossible to trump. Both graduated from Cornwell one in 1958 and the other in 2017

After college, when he started supporting in the Trust work, his job included travelling with Tata, wherever he went. During one such travel he visited  Pere Lachaise cemetery, Division 89, Line 1, first Tome - Grave of JRD Tata, engraved with Parsi Phrase - Humata Huxta Huvarshta - Good thought, good word, good act. Tiny strong guardians of light house were Deepthi, Parizaad and Denese.

 It focuses more on the core memories that the writer retains from his interactions. It is about the parental figure that took him in his wings and helped him soar high in his path. It's about a friend with whom he could share everything about his life. It's about the tough mentor who ensured that the writer was imbued with all the qualities that made him a perfect person. It's a featherlight book that is about how Ratan Tata impacted the life of its author. 

Ratan Tata did not have to try, empathy and sensitivity came naturally to him. 

Millennial Dumbledore! ~ That is how he described him to HOB

 ‘We don’t sell broken businesses; we fix them.’ - Ratan Tata. 

"I told him that when I write a book, I would write about another side of him and not just historic events or business milestones."

Every business leader maintains a public image that is consciously built up through PR companies. That's why you find their public personas consistently extremely flamboyant, nerdy, conservative, or intellectual. In the case of Ratan Tata, I felt his constructed one was that of a benevolent, philanthropist figure whose purse strings are forever open for the worthy. It's that of a man who could never do an injustice. The book maintains the same facade, which I feel is perfectly fine. But other than this public image, the book also puts forward the portrait of a man who loved to have fun, have a swim, pull the legs, drink aamras, and forever value commitments. That, I feel, is the real service that the book does to the memories of the deceased industrialist.

"I like to capture experiences. But what I love is to share them. It's not a popularity thing. It's a character trait that is so fundamental, that when I experience something beautiful, I want everyone to experience it with me. When I learn a lesson, I want to tell the story. My life is an open book (now quite literally)"