Mumbai: Shantanu Naidu, the general manager at former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata’s office, penned an emotional post to bid goodbye to his “dear lighthouse”. His post came after the 86-year-old industrialist died on Wednesday, leaving an over two-decade-long legacy of helming a wide variety of verticals within the Tata Group.
Naidu, an MBA from Cornell University and founder of the Goodfellows startup, wrote in a post on LinkedIn, “The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill. Grief is the price to pay for love.”
Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata’s close aide and manager of the Tata Trust, led his hearse on a bike as the industrialist’s body was taken to Mumbai’s NCPA for public viewing.
In a video shared on social media, the 30-year-old, dressed in all white, can be seen riding a bike in front of the ambulance among multiple police vehicles escorting his hearse to NCPA.
Naidu’s unlikely friendship with Ratan Tata began over their shared love for animals.
Naidu started a small business venture called ‘Motopaws’ that put reflective collars on stray dogs to help motorists avoid hitting them on the street in the dark.
In 2014, Naidu, a fifth generation Tata employee, wrote to the philanthropist billionaire seeking his help with his initiative. To his surprise, Tata wrote back to him two months later and invited him to Mumbai to work for the Tata group.
Naidu moved to the US to pursue an MBA at Cornell University, just like his mentor, but promised to return to India and work for Tata Trust.
Keeping his promise, Naidu accepted an offer to be Tata’s assistant after he completed his MBA and came back home.
Over the last few years, Tata was often accompanied by Naidu in his rare public appearances.
