Did I know Ratan Tata personally ? Had I ever met him in person? No. Though I would have loved to meet him in person and there were opportunities to meet him in person, a personal meeting never happened. However, I did exchange several emails with him and the thing about him was that he always responded to all my emails and that too when he was actively leading Tata Group. The responses were never seen to be sent by his assistants as the tone and responses clearly indicated they were coming from the man who we had always heard about and I never felt that any of these responses could have been created by anyone else by him. I must admit that in the last few years, his responses were infrequent but one understood that he had other priorities.
Globally everyone will remember him as a corporate legend and visionary who grew the Tata Group, he handled beyond what anyone could have ever imagined and that too across sectors and across the world. There was also another side to him which was helpful, kind and compassionate that several knew about and a few experienced it. I was a beneficiary, though not directly, of his compassionate nature.
Close to ten years ago, I read an article in the media that one of the largest animal welfare NGOs in NCR may have to shut down due to a payment backlog to the municipal corporation. And they seemed hell-bent on recovering the amount instead of writing it off for an organisation that was doing good work. When I saw the headline of this article, I felt, I would do my bit and request some other animal caregivers to pitch in as this NGO was and continues to be known to do good work for voiceless and helpless animals. When I read the amount that was outstanding, it seemed totally beyond my capacity to help even with the assistance of fiends and animal well-wishers. The amount stood at Rs. 87 Lakhs. Feeling helpless, I knew it was only a corporate house that would be able to bail out this organisation. I immediately wrote to a handful of corporate leaders, Ratan Tata, being one of them.
I was in meetings the next day and my mobile was on silent mode. When later that evening, I checked my messages and missed calls, there were calls from a few unknown landline numbers from Mumbai and one from a friend who directly worked for Ratan Tata. Hers was the first call I returned. She asked me if I had sent a mail to Ratan Tata about this NGO a few hours earlier and I confirmed it was me. She told me that his office was trying to get in touch with me and told me who to call. The person I connected with was from Tata Trust. The lady asked me for more information and I admitted that I did not know this NGO directly but was certain that they did great work. I was then asked to get them connected to the head of this NGO which I did.
Within a week, a team from Tata Trust visited New Delhi and spent time with the NGO. Once they were back in Mumbai, I got a call from them saying that the amount required for them to remain in existence was not Rs 87 lakh. The team that did the visit sat for a day with the NGO leadership and figured the amount was close to Rs1.3 crore. During the same call, I was told that Tata Trust would take care of this amount. It was a happy time for the NGO and all the voiceless they cared for.
I had heard many things about Ratan Tata and his philanthropy and love for dogs. This time, I experienced it. Did he have to act on this email I sent? Did he have to do anything? No. Not at all. The other corporate leaders I had emailed did not even bother to respond to it. Did Ratan Tata expect anything in return? Obviously not. They did not even want the publicity about it and this case was never spoken about or published until this article. A few months later, the leader of the NGO called me and said that they wanted to recognise me and Tata Trust for helping them during a dire situation. For me, it was a clear no, as I did nothing except send a few emails and then get on a few calls. I checked with Tata Trust and they too were clear that they did not want any publicity about it. This clearly was done out of Ratan Tata and The Tata Trust’s love for animals and helping the needy.
I am convinced that for an organisation to do well, the leader must ensure success and fairness for all stakeholders, be it customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders. But in this case, the leader went beyond that and ensured that his organisation was balancing the entire ecosystem by helping those they would never know. And without any expectations.
We can only hope that his legacy continues and other leaders get inspired to do at least a little of what Ratan Tata practised through his life.
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