I worked in a bank, and Ratan Tata represented our biggest, most important client. Naturally, I was intimidated and a little in awe. The most interesting thing about him was how he put you at ease. One invariably ended the meeting asking oneself, “Why was I so worried in the first place? He is so human, so down-to-earth, so humble, and so ‘not intimidating’.”
We were changing passwords on our credit cards, and, of course, we were planning to send someone to Bombay House with a thingummy jig device for Tata to change his password as befitted a VVIP customer. Surprise of surprise, I suddenly got a call that Mr Ratan Tata himself had turned up at our ATM. He stood patiently in a queue and was busy setting up his password.
I came down nine floors and ran to the ATM. By now, he had finished and was leaving. I felt awkward and confused about this “most unusual” customer. He was gentle, polite, completely non-threatening, and almost casually okay with being treated as just another ordinary customer. We shook hands, and he left, sitting in the front seat of the car next to the driver—so unlike what many of us do.
To this day, I have not forgotten that incident, even though it has been 35 years. In some senses, Ratan Tata was the ideal customer. He paid every bill on time. He never complained. Whenever I bumped into him, he had only nice things to say. Having spent a lifetime dealing with irascible and delinquent customers, I think of him as the ideal inhabitant of a banker’s heaven. Incidentally, he handled institutional matters with the same meticulousness as he did his personal account. Under his leadership, the Tatas paid their loans many times ahead of the due date, never late.
When I left banking and started my own company, I wrote to him just to keep him informed. He wrote back with a great deal of warmth and affection. He followed my progress with interest and good wishes. He never made me feel that, just because I was no longer a powerful banker but rather a struggling entrepreneur, I had to be treated less courteously. I can hardly say the same for other tycoons; even their secretaries looked at my startup visiting card with disdain and kept me waiting.
People can be wealthy, powerful, and successful. In fact, that is easy; all one needs is a good horoscope. To be gentle, courteous, helpful, and humble—now that takes human agency and effort. The Gospels say: “He who humbleth himself will be exalted.” Surely, Ratan was exalted in this world, not because of his wealth or prominence, but because of his endearing qualities. Good friend, I am sure you are exalted in the world upstairs.
Jaithirth ‘Jerry’ Rao is a retired entrepreneur who lives in Lonavala. He has published three books: ‘Notes from an Indian Conservative’, ‘The Indian Conservative’, and ‘Economist Gandhi’. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)