Sir Ratan Tata is one of the legends who has not just built good businesses but was also one of the biggest philanthropists of all time.
I myself studied at the TISS Mumbai, which is Tata Institute of Social Sciences. He was present in 1994 to set the foundation stone and post that to various instances where I have been following him and reading him, he was the one who actually inspired me for the JRD Tata fellowship long back at the Bombay house in one of the meetings. He's been a man of high status and grandeur and a true visionary. What really inspired me and many marketeers and many people across India from the various sections of society is ethics and values. Making a business with the base of ethics and values is very important, although they are very core to any business, any successful business. But when we give the example of the businessman who has reason and who has made the empire, he will be one of the first ones to be remembered on how ethical business and ethical business considerations can be used for the country.
A very interesting bit is India for India work, what he has done to make India a great place. This time, when he introduced Nano which was his dream project, he saw people moving on scooters, and he thought that he should give a solution where a family can travel in a smaller car and despite being in losses, Nano became an iconic statement for the smaller families. There are many more instances of care as he was one of the biggest example of leadership traits but he was one of his own kind who opened the doors of Taj in Mumbai for the pets. He was the one who opened the Bombay house for the dogs. He was a very big dog lover.
Nonetheless, he has also given place to many youngsters. I know one of the young general managers in the Tata Group, with whom he has been working with certain data very closely. It's great to see and reflect on if an iota of him can be taken by the people in the marketing fraternity and for others. It's always good to be humane.
I remember in one of the interviews, he said, what you should be known for. Then he said, 'I should be known for doing good, and that's the only thing I should be known for'. It's a very heavy statement to actually give and this means, like a real passion driven by ethics and values. Ethics and values drive the marketing submissions and marketing campaigns and are something which is of great importance. We have been partnering at Reckitt also in various forms and formats, with various organisations.
In our early days of ‘Banega Swasth India’, we had TCS as one of the partners, which is also a Tata Group and organisation. It's great like to see how to collaborate and how the business is value-based and ethics-based. I personally learned a lot from him in my whole career of 20 years - how to do good and how to be good and not to harm others and this one philosophy is what I will always take. Let the momentum in the Tata trust continue of ethics and values he has.
In my endeavours, in my personal life as well as professional life, I mimic a lot of things that Mr Tata has done in his life and I look forward to following the journey path of the Tata Group, and in this tough time, my condolences to the whole Tata Group and the families.
(The views expressed are personal of the author)
