India bids adieu to Ratan Tata: A legend of integrity and global impact

Mumbai: It was a hazy day in Mumbai as more than 100,000 people thronged the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) to pay their last respects to a departing titan of Indian business—Ratan Naval Tata.

The man who energized a colossal but disparate group of companies into a global conglomerate, taking on business giants and powerful politicians alike, passed away late Wednesday at the age of 86. The exact cause of his death is not clear.

On Thursday, the common man far outnumbered the well-heeled and the political class, who arrived in swanky SUVs flanked by security personnel to pay respects to the tallest figure in contemporary corporate India.

Yet, it was unusually quiet for a gathering this size in Mumbai. Progressing along the queue, one could hear the trees whispering in the sea breeze coming from the Back Bay, the cawing of crows and the suppressed murmurs of admirers. Employees across ranks—some draped in suits, some in security and maintenance workwear—took time off work to pay their respects.

The crowd lined up, waiting tirelessly, some for close to 40 minutes, in the hopes of seeing the Padma Vibhushan awardee one last time. Two parallel serpentine queues—one for Tata employees and the other for the rest—stretched nearly a half kilometre from the Murli Deora Chowk to the open-air plaza at the heart of NCPA, where Tata’s mortal remains were lying in state.

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Staff from over a dozen Tata entities including Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Communications, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Digital, Tata Trusts, and even Air India, had lined up. Employees from the Taj Group of Hotels, dressed in their uniforms, were helping manage the queues and offering water and refreshments.

“Isn’t it strange that while Mr. Tata did not make that many public appearances and neither was he gregarious, people are still turning up to catch a last glimpse,” said Suresh, a native of Uttar Pradesh but settled in Mumbai for the last decade. “This is because he made Tata a household name. And people fondly respect him as if he is one of their own family members.”

United in grief

Tata’s stepmother, Simone Tata, 94, attended the funeral in a wheelchair. Tata Sons’ chair, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, and Tata’s protege Shantanu Naidu, all clad in white, greeted the commoners and dignitaries who came to visit.

Ratan Tata lay inside a glass casket, his body covered in white cloth. In the background played Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye, Narsi Mehta’s 15th-century poem in Old Gujarati, that Mahatma Gandhi had adopted into the roster of prayers at the Sabarmati Ashram. Rajnigandha (tuberose) flowers were used as floral offerings and to decorate the funeral cortege.

One lady, Jyotsna—her company identification described her as a TCS employee—stood silently for about six minutes with folded hands and eyes welled up.

“He is and will remain my idol,” Jyotsna said as she tried to hold back her tears. “He embodied humanity. I never got a chance to meet him and only saw him from a distance. But I am proud to be associated with Tata Group, which was steered so well by Mr. Tata.”

She added: “I have been with TCS for 20 years. It is my first and only job. I joined the company when my grandfather died. He used to work at a mill run by the Tata Group in the city. But before he passed away, he told me to work for a Tata Group company. Because, he said, the group, come what may, will never go for retrenchments and respects its employees. After two decades with TCS, I can say my grandfather was absolutely correct.”

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A long list of dignitaries showed up, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, Union home minister Amit Shah, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray.

A few minutes before Tata’s body was being prepared to be carried to Worli for cremation, Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani, Akash Ambani and Shloka Ambani walked in and paid their tributes.

RPG Group promoter and Tata’s friend Harsh Goenka stopped to share his most revered memories with Tata. “He used to say that if there is a short way to do things and a right way, one should always take the right way,” Goenka recalled.

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‘Long live Ratan Tata’

Around noon, Radhakishan Damani, one of India’s famed stock market investors, walked out wearing his signature white shirt and white pants. Damani, promoter of Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which runs DMart retail stores, politely declined to speak. But his friend Ramesh Damani was more forthcoming.

“As an investor, I don’t see any impact on Tata Group stocks,” said Ramesh Damani, a member of BSE. “The group has some brilliant minds and leaders and it runs in a very decentralized manner, much like Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. This working of the group is perhaps the greatest tribute to how Mr. Tata built and ran the Tata Group.”

At 3:30 pm, Tata’s body was taken from NCPA to the Parsi prayer hall in Worli. TCS, which declared its earnings on Thursday, cancelled its post-earning press meet—a first since the company went public two decades ago.

At the entrance of the TCS House, Ratan Tata’s portrait was placed on a centre table, graced by a flickering candle and flowers.

At the prayer hall in Worli, where Tata’s last rites were performed, admirers thronged the gates to be let in. However, the small capacity of the venue meant only those close to him were allowed in.

After a point, the police couldn’t hold the agitated crowd, and let them into the venue. The police prepared a secondary barrier to hold the crowd, but many climbed fences to get a final glimpse of their idol.

Like 62-year-old Sunil Girkar, who braved the crowds and climbed a fence to catch a glimpse of Tata. The retired Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation lifer had travelled from Mumbai’s Mankhurd locality to say his farewell.

“I won’t be able to see him again. He was my idol,” he said.

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Spontaneous sloganeering started, with admirers chanting Ratan Tata Amar Rahe (long live Ratan Tata), and Bharat Mata ki Jai.

People had travelled from far and wide, including Tata Group employees who came from Bengaluru and Pune.

“We left at 2 am last night as soon as we got to know,” said 50-year-old Chandrakant Dixit, a Tata Motors employee who had arrived from Pune with three colleagues.

“We are leading a good life because of him. Whatever we are is because of him,” said Machendra Waghmare, also a Tata Motors employee.

Ratan Tata was given state honours and a gun salute at the funeral.

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