Niira Radia talks about her journey with Ratan Tata: ‘His dream was for the people…’

Niira Radia, a former corporate lobbyist, handled public relations for the Tata Group of companies for years. In an interview with NDTV Profit on Monday, October 14, Radia talked about her journey with the late Ratan Tata, the industrialist, philanthropist and former chairperson of Tata Sons.

“He had a dream, and his dream was for the people, always for the betterment of people, and always for the better of people, betterment of people of India,” Radia, who founded the now-defunct Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, said about Tata during the interview.

Radia made her first media appearance in more than a decade to pay homage to Ratan Tata's memory. “It's what Ratan would have wanted me to do,” Radia told NDTV Profit.

“Well, I think a lot of things sometimes are better left unsaid, and I think today, he'd be happy that I took that decision to speak and I think it is more of a homage to him because this is what he would have wanted me to do,” said Radia, in the interview.

What kind of person was Ratan Tata?

Radia highlighted that Ratan Tata was “certainly a shy person” but was more shy by choice, as she said he liked doing things than talking about them in public.

In the interaction with the news channel, Radia described Ratan Tata as a dreamer and a visionary. “His approach to bringing in globalisation was for a goal of bringing back the technologies to India and upgrade our own, our platforms, and our companies,” she said.

She shared Tata's vision about the one-lakh rupee car, which he first disclosed while having a conversation with one of the leading newspapers in the United Kingdom. Ratan Tata's vision was to make something for the common man so that they did not have to sit on a bike. The one lakh figure was his dream, she said.

“Forgive me for saying this, but he didn't want people to get wet in the rain and be in a car and be safe,” Radia told the news channel.

Radia also shared how Ratan Tata was disappointed when Tata Nano did not take off as he wanted. Tata's vision was to do business and develop the state (West Bengal), but he just got caught in a political fight, she said.

“He was a courageous man. So when he took the decision, I remember, it was the press conference going on at that time with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and he announced Singur, and I was standing and just because at that time, we were not told which would be the site,” she said.

When was the last time Radia contacted Ratan Tata?

Radia said she remained in contact with Ratan Tata. She also said that the last time she met Tata was nearly two to three months ago, but they talked over the phone whenever they could.

“We always talked on the phone whenever we could. What is nice was that we remained good friends much after, and actually, we reminisced many moments,” Radia said.

She shared an anecdote of her journey with Ratan Tata: At a mall in Dubai, Tata was approached by an individual who had an Indica car, and Tata looked at Radia, thinking there would be criticism of it. But to his surprise, there the individual appreciated the car.

“Sir, sir, I have an Indica. And he looked at me, thinking, somebody's going to complain. But the gentleman said, Sir, no, I love your car. It's lovely. I bought the car, and I bought a Tata car, and he (Ratan Tata) loved shaking hands, and he shook his hand, and he was so happy to hear that the joy in his face was so amazing. And then when he walked away, he said to me and Krishna Kumar, see, they like it,” she said.

Ratan Naval Tata, the 86-year-old chairman emeritus of India's biggest conglomerate, Tata Group, passed away on October 10 after being in critical condition at the intensive care unit of Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital.