This exposure allowed me to interact with editors and journalists such as Dilip Thakore (Business India), S Venkat Narayan (Onlooker) and Rauf Ahmed (Super). That network eventually helped me land a job as a sub-editor at Business India in 1979. Two years later, in 1981, the Tata Group, then headed by JRD Tata, appointed the 44-year-old Ratan Tata, son of Naval Tata, as Chairman of Tata Industries. As the Group’s investment and promotion arm, it focused on high-tech and emerging businesses. Tata Industries was not in the same league as Tata Sons, which controlled the group’s core businesses. Naturally, none of the powerful satraps made any noise over Ratan Tata’s appointment. There was no media splash. The real storm would come a decade later.
I remember my publisher, Ashok Advani, calling Ratan Tata to congratulate him. In the newsroom, his appointment sparked curiosity but little controversy. That changed dramatically in 1991, the same year I joined India Today, then a fortnightly.
As planned and articulated by JRD Tata, Ratan Tata was appointed as Chairman of Tata Sons. This triggered a major confrontation with powerful satraps such as Russi Mody (Tata Steel), Ajit Kerkar (Indian Hotels) and Darbari Seth (Tata Chemicals). They had long run their companies as a loose confederation and openly resisted JRD’s move, questioning the decision to appoint what they considered a “young” man—Ratan Tata was 54 at the time. I wrote a story in India Today titled “A Crack at the Top.” I spoke to all the key players, including Russi Mody whom I asked whether he missed out because of his surname. He replied, “Maybe.” More stories on the Tata Group followed. Honestly, I did not know that my first article had become a bone of contention between Ratan Tata and Mody’s camp. Internal memos reportedly flew within Bombay House, with suspicion that Mody camp was leaking information to me and vice versa. I learnt of it months later when The Telegraph referenced India Today’s coverage. So miffed was the Tata Group that S A Sabavala, Director of Public Relations, wrote to my editor, Aroon Purie. I was immediately asked to submit all my notes and documentation. A month or two later, the letter was published in the “Letters to the Editor” section, with the editor firmly stating: “We stand by our story.”
That same year, in 1992, I was covering TISCO’s (now Tata Steel) AGM at Patkar Hall in Churchgate, Mumbai. After the meeting, journalists went up the stage—as is customary—to exchange visiting cards with Ratan Tata. He refused to accept mine and ignored my Questions. Embarrassed, I protested: “Mr Tata, you can’t single me out.” He replied, “Ravi, you are welcome to my office for a cup of tea, but it’s a no to India Today.” I reported the incident to our Delhi office. A few months later, in 1993, I once again joined Business India. A cover story on Ratan Tata was planned, and since I was closely tracking the Tata Group, I was asked to assist my colleague. Securing an appointment was not easy. Ratan Tata was still wary because of my India Today coverage. Eventually, I reached out to a trusted source within his inner circle (now deceased) to help break the ice. It worked. Once Ratan Tata understood that Business India had no agenda, he opened up. He met us three times, made a detailed PPT presentation, and asked his CEOs to interact with us.
What stood out was a PPT presentation he had originally shared with JRD Tata in 1981. We were speechless. It was 1994, yet the clarity and foresight it reflected were remarkable. It showed he was far ahead of his time, like Jamsetji Tata, a visionary…a right man to step into JRD’s shoes. During our long interview, he was candid about his views on the media. “Why are Indian journalists so anti-business?” he asked. “When I speak to foreign publications like BusinessWeek, Forbes or The Wall Street Journal – they don’t seem hostile to business. But when I look at some of the stories published in India and their accompanying bylines, I wonder what these journalists have done in their field? What have been their contributions to India? Why are they so negative?” During the same interview, I asked who would lead the Tata-Mercedes joint venture. He dismissed the question as parochial. “Who understands the automobile sector better, Tatas or Mercedes?” he countered. His point was clear: leadership should be based on capability, not nationality.
Incidentally, Mercedes used Tata Motors’ Pune facility, though the joint venture did not last long. Business India’s cover story was titled “Ratan Tata: Living in Today’s World”. His tenure as Chairman was marked by two major battles, one in 1991 and another in 2016. In the first, he systematically asserted control over the Group by introducing a retirement policy: executive directors would retire at 65, non-executive directors at 75. This move effectively neutralised the old guard. Eventually, they fell in line.
The second battle, in 2016, was far more acrimonious. Ratan Tata had handpicked Cyrus Mistry as Chairman in 2011, but the relationship deteriorated. Mistry was ousted in October 2016, reportedly for losing the confidence of the Tata Sons board. In February 2017, N Chandrasekaran, popularly known as Chandra, took over as Executive Chairman.Interestingly, both Dhirubhai Ambani and Ratan Tata were born on December 28, five years apart, in 1932 and 1937. Yet, their styles and legacies were vastly different. Something was arresting about Ratan Tata’s personality. Nattily dressed and warm in demeanour, he embodied understated elegance. I recall an incident at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. It was well past midnight. As he walked in with a group of foreigners, a few college students approached him for autographs. He obliged them graciously. That was Ratan Tata, accessible despite his stature. He also had beautiful handwriting. My source mentioned earlier once showed me some of his letters. He made it a point to respond to correspondence in his own hand whenever possible. And that brings me to my one enduring regret. I never sent him a letter seeking support for my media venture, shortpost.in. The draft still sits in my folder. Ratan Tata passed away on October 9, 2024.
( A B Ravi, Editor of Short Post)