Ratan Tata Passes Away: Politicians, India Inc, celebrities, staff — all pay their last respects

Besides Tata Group’s top executives, including chairman N Chandrasekaran, India Inc was represented by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and banker Deepak Parekh among others.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, actor Aamir Khan and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar were also present.

Mortal remains of industrialist Ratan Tata during his last rites, at the Worli Crematorium in Mumbai. (Express Photo By Ganesh Shirsekar)

People waited in long queues, at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) where the body was brought from Tata’s Colaba residence in the morning, as well as the Worli crematorium where the last rites were performed with full state honours in the evening – most with a heartwarming story to share.

“He would never discriminate among his employees. He would often visit his bungalow in Alibaug. He would come on a speedboat from Mumbai to Mandwa jetty, and our job was to drive him to the bungalow in his car,” recalled Tinu Majethia, a contractual worker employed with Tata Power since 1998.

Industrialist Ratan Tata. (Express archive photo by Vinayak Prabhu)

Like many who worked closely with Tata, he recalled his humility and generosity. “Most of the time, he would drive the car himself, and would tell us that since he was our chauffeur for the day, we should treat him to coffee. We would happily do so,” he said.

He recalled that Tata would invite all the employees to his house on two occasions – on his birthday and on Parsi New Year.

“He would not only extend a helping hand when his staff faced any problem, but would stand by their families, or even their extended families in many cases,” said Vaibhav Zagadte, a supervisor at one of Tata’s bungalows for the past five years.

Tata Sons Chairman emeritus Ratan Naval Tata (Express Archives)

Citing an example, he said: “One of his employees got married a few years ago and soon had children. He was living in a small room with his family. Mr Tata took note of the fact that since his family was growing, he would need a larger accommodation and shifted him to bigger quarters, even before the employee made a request.”

Machendra Waghmare, employed with Tata Motors for 18 years now, said whenever Tata visited a workshop, he would speak to each employee and seek feedback. “During the pandemic, when most organisations were laying off their staff, he assured us that nobody would lose their job. Whenever he came for routine inspections at the workshops, he would take feedback from each and every employee. He would often tell us that we were his family,” he said.

Hillary Clinton along with Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani at the business meet at Hotel Taj Mahal. (Express photo)

“He was a businessman with a human touch, dedicated to selfless work. Working with him never felt awkward — he always made us feel that he was one of us,” said Dr Vijay Kalantri, Chairman of Balaji Infra Projects Ltd and a close associate of Tata, who was among those in the queue at NCPA.

Also in the queue was Chetan Damani, a shareholder who had invested in Tata Group shares 44 years ago. Calling Tata “a master of wealth creation”, he said: “He had great listening skills. His empathy extended not just to humans, but also to animals. He seemed to listen to them too.”

Zaid Khan, a student from Jaipur studying in Mumbai, said he was inspired by Tata’s life and work. “He lived a great life, and that reflected on his face… His legacy is impossible to carry forward,” he said.

Sachin Panda, who called himself a Tata fan, said: “People like him never really leave. Their thoughts and ideologies stay with us… From software to salt, there’s no industry he hasn’t touched. We owe even the salt we consume to him.”

“He was not just an asset to the Parsi community but to the entire nation, as seen by the thousands gathered here to bid him farewell,” said Goolrukh Vispi Buhariwala, a member of the Parsi community. With PTI