Friends, it's a great honor to be here and say a few words on Ratan Tata, on he being recognized as Jewel of India by the iconic Economic Times Awards. I thank the jury and Mr. Soin for this great honor. Rata is a very special person.
I've had the privilege of doing my full career with the Tata Group. I joined the group in 1986 as an intern. For anyone like me who would have joined the group as a professional, an opportunity to shake hands with Ratan or take a selfie would have been a dream. And I was fortunate not only to grow in the group and succeed him and work with him closely, and over the last few years we became very close friends.
And he is probably so unique that he is not only most respected and admired by all of India, but he is adored and loved by everyone. Everyone who came into contact with him has a story to tell.
It is an Economic Times award, so normally one will tend to think about sharing financial details on revenues, market cap, profits. But knowing him closely, I don't think it mattered to him that much. He was not a person who can be easily understood. You have to really experience him to understand him fully, because he's not a man who speaks freely. He chose his words carefully, and when he spoke them there was a lot of clarity and it had the depth of whatever he wanted to say.
I have experienced it on multiple occasions. I've written about it, but I'll say it once again. In 2017, when I took over as Chairman of the Tata Group, I wanted to renovate Bombay House. Bombay House had not been touched for a very, very long time. So there were many people who told me, don't do this, Ratan will not like it. Nobody will say Ratan, they say Mr. Tata will not like it. And one soul told me, 'Temple.' So I went to him and told him, 'Mr. Tata, I would like to renovate Bombay House.' There was a pause, he didn't say anything for a few minutes.
Then he said, very thoughtfully, 'By renovate, you mean vacate?' I said, 'Yes sir, we will vacate and it will get renovated, then we'll come back.' Then he said, very thoughtfully, 'May I ask you something?' And I still remember, he wasn't sure whether to ask me or not. But then he asked me, 'May I ask you something?' I said, 'Yes sir.' 'Where will the dogs go?' And I said to him, 'Sir, we will look after them. We will take all the dogs — there are seven dogs in Bombay House — and then we'll bring them back, because we'll build a kennel for them and they will have a very safe home.'
See, for him the small things mattered. He always evaluated or looked at anyone not with the big ideas alone, but what was the attention to the small things. He cared for the people who cannot defend themselves. In a way, he was a defender of the defenseless. That set him apart, and I've seen it on so many occasions. He never said anything just for the sake of saying, and he never actioned anything for the sake of actioning.
And his compassion was well known. When the terrorist attack happened in Bombay, he met with every single family member of the families who were affected during the terrorist attacks, leave alone the welfare, trustee, founder, and so on and so forth. The biggest gift he gave to people was the attention. It didn't matter who you are.
I don't recall even one instance. In fact, in the last few years, he was not that well, and I almost met him every week, sometimes twice a week, and probably had a dinner three or four times a month. There was not a single occasion where he did not come to the door to receive me or he did not come back to the door to see me off. I would tell him many times, 'Sir, you don't have to do this,' but he will insist. And that's a courtesy, I can tell you, anyone who has interacted with him will tell you.
And for him, doing the right thing was so important. I would say he was a man who constantly knew to ask himself, 'Am I doing the right thing?' Every time he was taking a decision, if it's a relationship, he was very good at putting himself in the other person's shoes to make sure that he's being fair. And even when we discuss topics, he will always raise this issue: what would it mean for the other person?
He was an extraordinary person. You can call him a businessman, you can call him a philanthropist, you can call him a startup champion, a lover of dogs. He had all these qualities. But I would say one thing that I will always remember is that sentence: 'Where will the dogs go?' As we build the future, let us not forget to ask, 'Where will the dogs go?'
