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Hara is also called Vijayadashami, Instagram : “No Tata bye-byes.”
meaning victory over these bad qualities.
The Saptami (the seventh day) of this
Navaratri, which was the 9th of October,
was a day of joy and sorrow for me. My
nephew and his wife saw the stork arriving
with a baby boy, a source of great joy for
the family and me too. A few hours later,
out came the news of Ratan Tata passing to
the celestial world, a source of great sorrow
for me, although I have never met him or
have worked for a Tata company ever and
have only seen him and heard him speak at
some business forum or the other.
Yes, of course, there was a surfeit of
posts on that day, and thereafter too, from Humble. Warm. Endearing.
thousands, if not lakhs, each talking about Photograph: @ratantata on Instagram
how their lives had been impacted in one For as long as I can remember, ever
way or the other directly or indirectly by since the age of 18 when I became eligible
Ratan Tata. When a man of glory passes, to invest, I have been studying all the
there will be an outpouring of emotions, companies in the Tata stable, as I did other
anecdotes and apocrypha, from many business houses, to enable investment
genuine and a few basking in reflected decisions. Suffice it to say, many of the Tata
glory with tenuous connects. After all, companies continue to be in the family
everyone owns in private and feels close portfolio, not only backed by performance
to, a public persona who has impacted and potential, but more driven by a primary
millions, as did the earlier carriers of belief that Tata will never let any of its
the illustrious Tata surname. It’s but a stakeholders down and will be fair to
reflection of the deep respect and regard them. By the way, Tata Steel, where Ratan
for a business titan, who never was a Tata had his first shop floor experience
billionaire personally, but moved billions as a scion, has been in our portfolio for
by his sheer actions of social good. decades. The trust has played out in the
In this swathe of elegies and paeans form of regular dividends, bonus shares
flooding the social media, some posts on and massive market capitalisation. Not
the 10th of October caught my attention. just Tata Steel, but several others like
Digest these pithy messages; perhaps Tata Power, Tata Motors, TCS, Indian
nothing can capture better the essence of Hotels, Tata Consumer Products, Tata
the eponymous persona : Digital, etc. Truly, a salt to software group,
Facebook : “Icons may pass, but live on.” quietly going abouts its way and delivering
LinkedIn : “An icon may pass, but lives results without any fanfare, amid intense
on. An epitome par excellence, not just for competition and challenges. Today, the
those who knew him, but for the many who Tata group ranks amongst the top, in
knew of him. A timeless Titan.” terms of market capitalisation. This has
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #64 | OCTOBER 2024 11
