In his personal and professional life, Ratan Tata had very few friends. A shy person by nature, he was a great mimic and he went to great extents, including the courts, to zealously guard his privacy. So, when he was chosen by JRD Tata in 1991, there were not many who believed in his leadership capabilities. After all, his detractors claimed that there were stalwarts with proven track records within the group. Among them were the formidable Russi Mody of Tata Steel and Darbari Seth of Tata Chemicals. But when Ratan lay down the baton twenty odd years later, he had proven himself to be the most audacious, and far-thinking, of Indian industrialists by taking over Corus, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tetley's and establishing the Tata brand overseas.
Given the insidious games that were being played out by his rivals within the group, people who were more senior and more powerful than him, a lot of his time during the early years was spent in covering his back from friendly fire. I recall sitting with him some evenings at his modest house in Colaba and discussing the potential threats that were likely to emanate from his top honchos. Undoubtedly the one that affected him the most was the time when the Assam government targeted Tata Tea and its CEO R K Krishna Kumar for 'helping' terrorists. It was this trying period that helped forge Tata's closest professional linkage with anyone in the group.
For many years, until his passing away last year, Krishna Kumar was his closest friend and advisor on many matters. Ratan's watch has seen many momentous initiatives being taken by the group. Among them were the decision to make Tata Motors build cars and launch the Indica, the creation of the Nano, the decision to hive off Tata Oil Mills -- better known as Tomco -- to Hindustan Lever, and the decision to take Tata Consulting Services public. But I believe that the defining impact on the group, which was witnessing fissiparous tendencies when Ratan took over, was in consolidating it.
In the early 1990s, there were over 300 companies with different identities and logos; all claiming the Tata parentage. Tata reduced them to less than 100 and created a distinctive group logo. Further, by mere association, a company could not use the Tata brand. Ratan set up parameters -- and charged fees -- for companies to use the brand name. Such moves have led to the creation of the country's most powerful brand. Talk about Ratan's humility is legendary. So is his philanthropic approach to life. While the Tata Trusts -- which owned Tata Sons -- were just donors to charitable causes, their operations underwent a sea-change after Ratan helmed them after retiring from Tata Sons. Under his stewardship, they have become vigorous agents of change, not just by funding projects but by providing critical inputs to society.
In the final analysis, Ratan was a visionary; a man who saw tomorrow and planned for it. I was always struck by Ratan's tenacity. Given his legendary love of dogs, I saw in him a trained bloodhound; he would never give up on his vision no matter how many deterrents he had to overcome. His determination to be in aviation, despite the many roadblocks of the Civil Aviation Ministry, which constantly changed policy goalposts, is a glaring example.
