'Ratan Tata Always Displayed His Kindness'

'When the bombing happened in the Taj Mahal hotel in 2008, that was a very sad moment, but he really took care of the people, took care of everybody and that was when you saw some of his best (finest) moments.'

'There are some things which we will never forget. That is when the best of a person comes out.'

When Ratan Tata was working with Tata's National Radio & Electronics Company (Nelco),in the early 1980s, he threw himself, as was his style, eagerly and zealously into the project of building a main-frame computer for the Mumbai-headquartered company.

That was when he got to know Ram.

Ram was how he addressed Subramanian Ramadorai, a Nagpur-born engineer, belonging to a Tamil civil servant family, who in 1967 had earned his master's in computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and returned to India to work with Tata Consultancy Services in the 1970s.

Ram and Ratan, young men in their late 20s and early 30s, with a vision, and energy to back it, together built this hi-tech, new-fangled Nelco computer and it was the start of a successful and warm collaboration that was to last for the rest of their lives.

From those exciting computer-building days, the relationship gradually matured and blossomed into a close association of 40 plus years, as Ramadorai quickly climbed the TCS company ranks to eventually become the CEO for 13 years and later the vice-chairman for five, growing the company's revenues to $20 billion, winning accolades and awards, like the Padma Bhushan and a CBE.

He and Tata worked together, travelled extensively together, consulted one another, leaned on each other's knowledge and advice and sometimes relaxed in each other's company too, though their interests were diverse, through the best of times and even some terribly sad days too.

Ram bid Ratan Naval Tata -- whom he addressed sometimes as Ratan and sometimes as Sir -- a poignant farewell, staying at his side one last time, through the day on October 10, 2024.

He said to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com: "Mr Tata's contributions will remain. His memory will remain forever."

When did you first meet Mr Ratan Tata?

It was in the beginning of the 1980s. I was looking after the engineering part of the organisation (TCS). He was the chairperson of Nelco.

We met because Nelco wanted to build a computer from California and we had to build the software for that.

We looked for both the manufacturer, some of the support systems with regards to the software itself, namely for the operating system we built.

We were extensively in touch with each other.

When you first met him, what was he like?

He was exactly true to what he appeared -- very approachable, very open and it was very easy to communicate with him.

One never felt his presence in terms of hierarchy or in terms of any reservations.

It must have been very intriguing to work on this project in Nelco with him?

He was very interested in it because he was passionate about hardware in this country and wanted the software.

I picked IIT Bombay and we collaborated with the computer science department there to build the software for that machine.

The second time was when we built the super computer, namely the 132 teraflop Eka in the early 2000s.

I took that proposal to him, wanting the funding to be done by Tata Sons and he immediately agreed.

Then we have written a small story (external link) on that, with regard to how we built that, what were the moments, because that put it as the fourth most powerful machine in the world.

We applied it (used it) in the Indian Space Research Organisation (for the launch of Chandrayan).

We applied it in some of the virtual simulations and virtual reality area too.

When you were working with him on this computer at Nelco, were you in touch on a daily basis?

Yes, he was highly invested in it. But more importantly, you could ask for a meeting anytime, any day and he was easily approachable, like I said in the beginning, so it was not a problem.

Once he took over the Tata Sons' responsibility and he became the chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group chairman in 1991, I recall it became more difficult (to approach him) because of the pressure and the kind of companies in the group he was driving for the next 20 years.

You would have interacted with so many business leaders in your time and presently as well. What set Mr Tata apart?

I think, his honesty of purpose. What you hear is what you get.

And if you disagreed, you could communicate without any inhibitions. So that boss-employer relationship was never there.

It was purely a professional interaction, which was what I cherished most.

And that's what we always believe in. That's what we did at TCS, also with Dr (Faqir Chand) Kohli (MIT-educated TCS co-founder and first CEO).

But overall, I think it is a culture of openness, culture of transparency, culture of what you say is what you get.

One was free to challenge anything as a professional.

Also, a certain amount of humbleness?

Yes, that was there, because by nature he was a very approachable and a very nice person.

You could talk to him on anything -- computers or electronics or policies or steel or automotive or sustainability or the Trust.

So, I had a variety of experiences, interacting and my interactions were not always just professional.

Also, if I had an idea about the group or I had an idea on what can be done better, he was absolutely open to listening.

He would never say 'That's not your domain' or 'That's for some other time'.

So, he had a very open mind and a keenness to know things?

Yes, you (could approach him) in two or three ways -- either by he asking you, or you telling him something or sending a note or something, or you write something to him.

Or you travel together -- that becomes a bond which was all the more important.

You had a very long association with him. What were some of the little personal things that you noticed about him -- what he liked to eat or his hobbies or how he relaxed?

His hobbies were plenty. For example, he was an architecture man. That was his passion.

So, anything to do with architecture, anything which had a design element from architecture, or painting.

All these were absolutely his fondness.

The second one was if you had a pet, if you had a dog and were fond of dogs, you could communicate about your own dog or a dog he was mentoring or bringing up, etc.

This was another subject which you could communicate with him anytime.

Third is a health initiative, whether it is cancer, whether it's a public hospital, some of the hospitals which we supported or we looked at. That was the other one.

In the technology part of it -- if you saw something which made sense, and he also thought it made some sense, we could easily communicate, converse on that. That was the another area.

Automotive, of course, was an amazing passion for him, and you could learn a lot, or talk about the changes that were happening in the automotive industry.

The other one which we communicated a lot on was in the Tata Advanced Systems (an aerospace manufacturing, military engineering and defense technology company), which I was the chairman of, where we did quite a bit of this aerospace industry creation in the Hyderabad area.

Again, my communication with him there was almost once a week, which was very important.

There was a diversity of areas -- I mentioned just a few.

And, of course, TCS and what we did during the TCS IPO. We met a lot of investors, a lot of our people across various geographies, travelled together, virtually lived together.

I think those two weeks were like exclusive time with him. Those are some moments which are extremely important.

Since you and he travelled extensively, was he like an anxious traveler? Was he up and out the door exactly on time and very disciplined in this respect?

Yes, time commitment was his forte -- that's the hallmark of our group. If I gave you a time, you are supposed to be there; both were absolutely very critical.

It was more to respect you as a professional, as a friend, rather than, like I said, a boss or a subordinate type of a relationship.

Age was another factor. If he was 86, I was approaching 80. So, age-wise we were not too far apart.

So how did you travel around?

By car within a city, of course. Plus, we travelled by flights, normal commercial flights.

At least on my travels with him, other than a few occasions where we took the company jet, most of the time it was commercial flights.

I travelled to the US, Europe with him. We travelled to Latin America, different countries. We traveled to Singapore, and to the Far East. It was long travel, across various geographies for sure.

Was he like a favourite passenger for wherever he went?

Yes, a favourite passenger. So many people who would like to shake hands with him, take a picture with him, later with cell phones or smartphones.

Air crews must have liked to serve him and maybe because he was a very humble person?

He was not a demanding person. Never used his position for getting anything.

Those were some of the qualities he probably acquired from J R D (Tata). It was a collection of things.

All of us learn from somebody, all of us pass our learnings on to somebody, that's the way he functioned.

How well did he know India?

Mr Tata? Of course, he knew India because Jamshedpur was where he started, namely in the interiors with Tata Steel.

(He knew) the Pune belt because of the automotive industry, which is the second largest one.

And if you take the Tata Chemicals or the Indian Hotels, again, they are spread across the country.

He took a personal interest in some of these properties, as well as these factories or some of the products that they manufactured etc.

And he was absolutely (involved). For example, every March 3, on Tata Steel's Founder's Day (to honour the birth Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata), he was definitely there (in Jamshedpur).

He would not miss a beat and every year he would be there. He would meet the employees, he'd meet the leadership and people cherish that.

For JRD's birth anniversary on July 29th, he was always there in Bombay, garlanding the statue of the founder as well as Mr JRD's.

These were all done with clockwork precision, on the appointed day, every year, on the dot.

And these are all memories of him which are very, very sweet.

Wherever he went or travelled, he made it a point to meet the employees and all the people at lower level too?

Yes, yes.

Did he speak good Hindi?

No, no, no. Not good in Hindi or Gujarati (laughs).

Seen him speak in Gujarati sometime. But I don't think it was anywhere near good. I would say it was average.

Was he interested in food?

He was very particular about his food because he didn't like much spices. I was the wrong person to advise him, because I'm 100 per cent vegetarian, whereas he was not a vegetarian.

Would you say he was a very patient man?

Yes. Very patient, very patient.

When the bombing happened in the Taj Mahal hotel in 2008, that was a very sad moment, but he really took care of the people, took care of everybody and that was when you saw some of his best (finest) moments.

There are some things which we will never forget. That is when the best of a person comes out.

He (always displayed) his kindness, the humanity, concern for what's really happening, concern for employees and concern for anybody close to him.

Or if a dog died in his house. Or a street dog suffered -- how committed he was in making sure affordable treatment was very much available.

Those are some things which we can never forget.

So, 26/11 upset him a lot?

Of course. All of us.

It was a matter of shock?

Never expected it. And how the employees stood up to save the guests, before they got out themselves and they sacrificed their own lives.

It came from cultural moorings and it's not a normal behaviour.

Why did it happen? It's not because you're going to get a medal or something. You did it because that was the way.

Was 26/11 a matter of tears for Mr Tata?

I am sure. Yes.

One heard that the moment something tragic happened anywhere in India, Mr Tata made sure that he mobilised aid immediately, like when the 2004 New Year's Day tsunami happened in South India.

Yes. Whether it was an earthquake, whether it was a cyclone in Chennai, through Indian Hotels, or TCS, or any of the other groups, that were close to the disaster area, we all pitched in together and we worked as one team.

It was not you versus me or this company within the group versus that company. Every person volunteered that time and made sure that the access to help was there instantly.

The leadership made sure it happened. This was a culture we carried forward from JRD to Ratan.

When the Air India building was bombed in 1993 and the terrorist attack happened in the Bombay Stock Exchange, in Worli, in Zaveri Bazaar and at Bandra (Sea Rock and Juhu Centaur hotels), I think all of us rose to the occasion and made sure that we had everything functioning within 24 hours.

The second thing was the blood banks were full. The number of blood donors from the Tata group itself, from the organisation itself, made a big difference.

People who knew him told me he was neither a particularly philosophical person nor a religious person. What were some of the unusual personal things about him that struck you?

Yoga was an example. He was willing to try it out for his back.

Mr Krishna Kumar (a senior Tata group director) took him to some temple or another at the time of the Tata acquisition of the Corus Group (British-Dutch steel company) etc. He was quite open for that.

So I don't think he believed in it, but at the same time he was not against it.

He had an open mind?

He had an absolutely open mind.

When someone dear passes away, one remembers with fondness maybe a particular incident or moment. When you look back, what are those days that you remember with great fondness?

I think it's happiness.

For example, when we did a listing of TCS in 2004, I think the kind of value unleashing and the kind of retail investors from this country who had access to that, I was absolutely touched by that.

Very few people will say let's list only in India and not outside, because we have to give access to the shares for our people in India, for a retail small investor, whether they have one share, 10 shares, 5 shares based on affordability and the lottery which gets them.

Second is you must price the product such that there is always an upside value and it's not a price it so much that nobody gets anything at the end of the day and they all don't like it.

It was a principled person who saw the value of touching the last man or the last woman in the chain, so that affordability was addressed. There was a passion to create value for every citizen of this country.

That's the way he looked at problems. We must touch all, rather than touch a few.

What is your sense of personal loss now that he's passed on?

Being a professional, being a person who knew him, we all share the loss, share the grief, but life must move on and we must remember the person and the kind of things he did and how we can propagate that. That is the only way to move forward.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com