Untainted by scandal, untouched by hate: That’s Ratan Tata

In 2024, you have to be exceptional to have owned a business conglomerate without being tossed, twisted and roasted in a Rahul Gandhi rally. Ratan Tata left the world late last night without that dishonour, spotless in India’s pseudo-socialist mud-fest.
Ratan Naval Tata did not succumb to the acrimonious politics often associated with public figures pawing for power and pelf. Born so rich that his wealth was invisible, except in his generosity to noble causes. The exceptional Ratan Noble Tata.
He inherited a legacy that he took to newer heights, beating the controversial cliche that claims that the third generation babalog are meant to squander the wealth acquired by the founders. This baba’s signature style was giving. To those who had nothing. Yeh galiyon ke aawaaraa bekaar kuttay. This Bawa said no. He didn’t arouse the sleeping tails of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s dogs, he touched them instead with compassion.
“If man like dog, he is good man. If dog like man he is good man,” said Hathoda Tyagi in Patal Lok. Ratan Tata was the quintessential good man in the dog-eat-dog world of business rivalry. He also gave to the rent-seeking political class, but with exemplary transparency that was later emulated by many stalwarts.
In 2024, every such passing generates kilobytes of social media tributes, and as is the nature of the beast, an onslaught of negative, hurtful comments. Not in the case of Mr Tata. The common citizens of India who have nothing to do with the Tatas hold no ill-will towards Mr Tata or Brand Tata. That’s remarkable in a world where the salty souls have meticulously mastered the art of hating strangers. In the Indian idiomatic flourish, we all have had his salt. Monsieur, hamne aapka namak khaya hai.
If you leave aside a couple of controversies he was dragged into, he remains untouched by the all-too-familiar scandals that dog the giants of the industry today. The Radia Tapes was a disaster not drafted by him and the brief succession saga that folded up before it could unfold was a distraction at best. If he spoke, he wouldn’t utter a word out of place. Polite yet firm and always on point, and to the point. Not one word without purpose. Even his failed Nano is not ridiculed but remembered fondly because his dream of an extremely affordable family car was a shared dream. Nano mein sapna.
In 2024, wealth is not heard but seen. When all that glitters gotta be gold and the beautiful is bound to be bold, Ratan Tata remained a mystery, comfortably cocooned in his world. He lived in a house as large as his heart was but not as towering as his persona. Nobody felt too small beneath it. He preferred simplicity and solitude over the glitz and glamour of Mumbai where magnates attract movie stars like magnets attract loose change. He instead preferred to spend his time with two beautiful beasts he loved but this was also a house where the stray, homeless ones were not chased away. Not just his house but also at his corporate office and even the reputed Taj luxury 5-star hotels, stray dogs were treated like they were Mr Tata’s dogs. You must have already read about the legends of Ratan Tata’s love for his dogs. The message was simple: love your children but do have a place for those who haven’t the fortune of being born to you. Spread the fortune.
The Tata group is an Indian institution, deeply rooted in universal values and an industrious spirit. Ratan Tata continued the Tata tradition of institution-building in the fields of healthcare, education, rural development and animal welfare, without making an item song and dance about it. It came naturally to the house of Tatas to give away most of its profit back to the nation that gave the Parsis shelter when they were uprooted from Persia, now Iran. That instinct of giving back was institutionalised by Ratan Tata and will live on long after him. Tata, Bharat’s Ratan.