Everyone, at some point in life, develops an affinity towards someone who they aspire to be like or just look to for inspiration. They inspire ambition, confidence and even reverence in us. In a world with so many such successful and awe-inspiring people, there are many names that are recognized worldwide and each of them are exceptionally inspiring in their own ways. However, whenever I am asked about this, I give the traditional and safe answer – my parents. I say this because no one can dispute or counter question you on activities of the said individual because they simply don’t know enough about your parents. An inspiration is a very personal thing and it varies for everyone. Some people may say Bill Gates is their inspiration. No one can dispute that but there may be questions on how Bill got to where he is. His life wasn’t completely controversy free. He was accused of monopolizing the market and making life miserable for the smaller players at one point. I’m sure the same can be said for Steve Jobs or maybe even Warren Buffet. That’s the business world. Then you have Indra Nooyi, Malala Yusufzai, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa, Greta Thunberg, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, the list is endless! If you name any of these people, you run the risk of irking someone who may not really consider them inspirational and who may even try to convince you otherwise. No one can even try to convince you that your parents aren’t inspiring!
Having said all that, here is who I consider extremely inspiring. He may not affect me directly one way or another but reading about him certainly gives me a good feeling. It gives me hope that the world has people like him. It gives me hope that quiet and humble people too have a place in this world and oddly enough, it gives me hope that I too have a place in this world. Since I can remember, I have always been in awe of him and wondered why everyone isn’t like him. Ratan Tata recently joined Instagram and took the internet by storm! Although, I have always admired him, this new out-pour of cheers for his advent into this form of social media, made me think of him again. It reminded me of all the times I thought about him before. And I went into a spiral of reading up on him all over again. I have not had the opportunity to read about the details of his career. What I have read is mostly about his family, his philanthropy, his success and his humility. And I will happily admit that whatever opinion I have of him, is solely from what I have found in media, all of which left an impression on me over the years. He was born into privilege. However, if you see him on the streets, you probably wouldn’t even recognize him because he would just be one among the crowd. I once read somewhere that he is an avid car enthusiast and owns multiple fancy and expensive beyond imagination cars but for his daily commute and travels, he uses an old white Mercedes. I’ve read countless articles of how his silent philanthropy is the reason why he doesn’t feature on the world’s richest people’s lists and as I grew up, it made me revere him even more! He is truly a class apart. I always get a kick out of something a reporter once asked him – “Why is Mukesh Ambani the richest person in India and not Ratan Tata?”. His reply spoke volumes – “We are industrialists and they are businessmen. I don’t want India to be an economic superpower, I want India to be a happy country”.
As I entered into the workforce in USA, through Ford Motor Company, another legacy family owned company with 100 years of history, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between Bill Ford and Ratan Tata. My favorite car company, Jaguar, ties these two men and so does a big controversy around the deal. I read in the media that Ford humiliated Tata in 1999 when Tata came to try and sell their small auto division to Ford but Tata quietly came back 9 years later and rescued Ford by buying Jaguar Land Rover from Ford. This story has no first hand account from Ratan Tata but only things his team has said to the media. That’s what I have come to expect of him. He isn’t the kind of person to speak up and garner sympathy for himself or speak ill of other businesses. He has a stoic silence. He prefers to let his work do the talking for him. He quietly does what he thinks is best for his business and doesn’t demand a pat on the back for it. There is a very famous quote of his that I read a while back and even posted on social media. It startled me because it reeked of arrogance if you just read it without any context. He said, “I don’t believe in taking right decisions. I take decision and then make them right”. When you really think about it, its sheer genius. My post of this quote prompted some immediate comments from people who don’t necessarily think of him the way I do. They were quick to point out the failure of the Tata Nano project. They were quick to point out some of the 2G scam articles and the more recent controversy around Cyrus Mistry. Like I said in the beginning, everyone has something bad written about them at some point. They have been associated with failed initiatives as well. No one is successful in 100% of the ventures that they undertake. My response to such comments is usually to show them some statistics, show them the growth of the Tata and Sons conglomerate on the whole. Maybe they would have done as well under a different leader. Maybe they wouldn’t have. You cannot say for sure. A quote on this by him said – “Take the stones people throw at you and use them to build a monument”. Despite all the negative comments out there, the sheer perception of him and support shown by the people in a move as simple as joining Instagram proves that he is deserving of the adoration showered on him by so many people.
He followed a sense of values in both his professional and personal life. He once said – “What I would like to do is to leave behind a sustainable entity of a set of companies that operate in an exemplary manner in terms of ethics, values and continue what our ancestors left behind”. When it comes to philanthropy, Tata Trusts is no less than Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. An article in medalofphilanthropy.org once stated – “When former Indian President K. R. Narayanan bestowed the Padma Bhushan Award upon Ratan Tata for his distinguished service to the country, he eagerly mentioned that he went to university on a Tata scholarship. It’s moments like these that not only show how critical the Tata family has been to India, but also why it’s so important for Ratan to continue to be an exemplary custodian for his family’s philanthropic legacy. As with much of his life’s work, he is using his position at the head of the table to remake philanthropy throughout India.”
https://www.medalofphilanthropy.org/ratan-tata-redefining-philanthropy-india/
Ratan Tata, over the years, has carved a name for himself, independent of his illustrious family legacy. There are other families in India who are similar to the Tatas, like the Godrej family, the Birla family and the Hinduja family to name a few. They are all of similar stature and similar personalities. However, for some unspoken reason, my attention always seems to fall back on Ratan Tata. It does add to the charm that he is an avid dog lover and as a tradition, Bombay house welcomes stray dogs during rains and also has a shelter with toys, food and water for stray dogs. Finally, two quotes of his resonate with me knowing the kind of person I am, showing why I revere him the way I do. I will end with them – “I admire people who are very successful. But if that success has been achieved through too much ruthlessness, then I may admire that person, but I can’t respect him” and “Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going, because a straight line even in an E.C.G means we are not alive”.
Feature Image Credit – Pradeep Gaur/Mint
Musings of a confused nut! 