When Tata does not mean goodbye

Class that was Ratan Tata Jyoti Badekar president of the Janata Dal Secular Womens Cell said ldquoI remember supporting a humble artist from Machimaar Nagar Cuffe Parade whose talent Mr Tata had recognised This artists name is Nilesh Mohite Mohite was allowed to exhibit his paintings at the Taj Hotel Art Gallery thanks to Tata sir Visitors from this humble fisherfolk colony arrived at the Taj to see Mohitersquos paintings and congratulate him on his finest hourFounder of Xtremely Young Zoroastrians Hoshaang Gotla in grey suit with Ratan TataThey were treated with such dignity and grace at the hotel as Tata sir had instructed the staff that these were his guests I also recall that we were printing invitation cards for this same exhibition and there were three names listed as supporters We had sent Tata sir a preview card with his name most prominent He sent it back requesting that his name not be the most prominent and that all names should be the same font size This is the kind of culture that no amount of money can buyrdquoOn Thursday we saw political leaders flock to pay their last respects to Ratan Tata Rustom Jamasji Head of Department HOD Life Support Saturation Diving had some straight tough talk for politicians The Dadar Parsi Colony DPC resident stated ldquoNot a single politician who now speaks of being sad over Ratan Tatarsquos passing actually cares A single member of the Tata family has done more for the country and given more to the poor than all the politicians and their families put togetherrdquoRatan Tata and Krishna PawleHis message to politicians was to ldquocut the crap You didnrsquot give the Bharat Ratna when you should have nor did you name an airport after JRD Tata who gave India its airline You donrsquot care about the Tatashellip If you do letrsquos see you name the new upcoming airport in Mumbai after the Tatasrdquo After that Jamasji took an overarching look at the business group through a community lens ldquoTata was not just a corporate empire but a continuation of the Zoroastrian civilizationrdquo he concludedRatan Tata with Nitin Dossa on his immediate rightSport onKrishna Pawle a Colaba social worker said ldquoI along with others met Ratan Tataji at his home in connection with the Colaba Sports League a football tournament focused on youth development I recall his humility He came out of his home to see us off waving as we got into our car to leave During the league a journalist asked him why he lived in Colaba instead of fancy areas like Altamount Road or Malabar Hill and he said he liked the culture and diversity of the Colaba areardquoThe inspirationHoshaang Gotla the founder of Xtremely Young Zoroastrians XYZ added that he met Mr Tata when he was in college ldquoEven then I thought his energy and wisdom were magneticrdquo Gotla explained ldquoYears later we started XYZ and he was always impressed by the work we were doing with children After I organised a prayer service in memory of those lost in the Mumbai attacks he expressed heartfelt gratitude for our remembrance of the departedrdquoTouching heartsViraf Mehta chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet BPP added ldquoHe was the recipient of awards like the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan but there are intangible awards too He lives on in the hearts of countless individuals whose lives he touched He embodied the essence of Parsi values integrity compassion and selfless servicerdquo Mehtarsquos message is that Tata does not mean goodbye ldquoWith his achievements he will continue inspiring generationsrdquoOldworld class is epitomised by vintage cars Nitin Dossa chairman of the Western India Automobile Association WIAA recalled meeting Tata at a vintage car exhibition in Delhi a couple of years ago Dossa said ldquoMr Tata seemed transfixed by my 1952 Chrysler vintage car examining it minutely I remember him telling me that he had a similar car and even showed me where the switch for the convertible top was locatedmdashsomething I was unaware of until then His understanding of cars was impressive and he was so understated He was truly vintage oozing quiet charm and stylerdquo Dossa concluded To twist a popular advertisement catchline the greatness of Mr Ratan Tata lay in his humility Let us all look for the Ratan Tata in ourselvesThe music connoisseurNCPA Chairman Khusroo Suntook left with Ratan TataRatan Tatarsquos passing is a serious loss He guided the Tata Group to exceptional heights after he took over from JRD Tata He achieved this while honouring the Tata values and was a unique ambassador of ethical growth A fine human being with great compassion he cared for animals with unparalleled devotion He had a wide range of interests and tastes from aviation and modern management systems to classical music and jazz Unfortunately his busy schedule kept him from indulging his love for music as much as he would have liked to His simplicity and lack of selfimportance despite his position are a rare quality today He will be greatly missedBy Khushroo N Suntook chairman NCPAAn officer and a gentlemanChef Hemant Oberoi with Ratan Tata at the launch of the film Hotel MumbaiIf I had to sum him up it would be as an officer and a gentleman During the centenary celebrations of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel I remember him casually saying ldquoWhy not have a cheese souffle for the 1400 guestsrdquo I knew he meant it as a joke He had never asked anything of us to date So I told my team ldquoWe will go all outrdquo At every stage that we needed him he was there We felt that we ought to be there when he needed us He was not a foodie He was a light eater and not particular but fond of Japanese Chinese and European cuisine You will rarely find a leader like him Can you imagine an industrialist of his stature after 2611 walking into the chaos of Bombay Hospital When everyone was worried about costs he said ldquoFor anyone injured in the city please send the bills to Bombay Houserdquo Every evening he would visit to enquire after people The way he looked after all of us and the families was fantastic It is an irreparable lossBy Chef Hemant OberoiA deeprooted interest in aestheticsSabyasachi Mukherjee at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya File picMr Ratan N Tata like his legendary grandparents Sir Ratanji J Tata and Navajbai Tata had developed an interest in art and aesthetics He helped the museum organise two international exhibitionsmdashThe Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia and the groundbreaking India and the World A History in Nine Stories Periodic generous donations to the trustees of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya for maintaining heritage property research and publications also speak of his love for collections and a deep interest in art education His sudden demise is a huge loss for artists and art lovers around the worldBy Sabyasachi Mukherjee director general Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu SangrahalayaAn eye for artTasneem Zakaria Mehta at the Bhau Daji Lad Museum PicShadab KhanI knew Mr Tata not closely but through my mother As the editor of the Taj Magazine she was more familiar with him I remember sending him my book Mumbai A City Through Objectsmdash101 Stories from the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum and receiving a wonderful response He was a great philanthropist and the kind we need more of As patrons of art the Tatas were among the earliest corporate houses to buy support and encourage art in India He belonged to a generation quite like Rahul Bhai Bajaj who had a different perspective and vision of art It is missing today The kind of support they gave artists enabled an entire ecosystem This is also the vision Mr Tata brought to his philanthropyBy Tasneem Zakaria Mehta director Dr Bhau Daji Lad MuseumInputs by Shriram Iyengar