<p>Having read my tribute to Ratan Tata published in DH a while ago, a former colleague in Tata Tea recalled an intriguing incident highlighting another aspect of Ratan’s multifaceted personality, not to mention his droll sense of humour.</p>.<p>The day after his formal visit to a worker’s house in Munnar in April 1997, Ratan expressed a desire to see another worker’s home, which he said he would choose at random. The worker’s house we had shown him earlier had, of course, been specially spruced up for his visit, and the occupants had been alerted. </p><p>Apparently, he now wanted to see for himself the actual unvarnished living conditions of a worker at the grassroots level.</p>.<p>Accordingly, the next day, minus the previous day’s entourage, Ratan, accompanied by my colleague Prakash, headed, unannounced, for a workers’ colony near Munnar. Selecting a particular house at random, Ratan asked the driver to stop, and Prakash led him inside. It was a humble, poorly lit, scantily furnished and rather drab two-room tenement. They found a woman, an estate tea picker, in the kitchen cooking an austerely simple midday meal.</p>.<p>Acting as a translator, Prakash introduced the visitor, but the unlettered woman was clueless about his identity. Nevertheless, she promptly produced a crude stool for Ratan to sit on. She then very courteously offered to make him a cup of tea and, on getting his gracious acceptance, hastened to prepare it.</p>.<p>Sipping the tea, Ratan conversationally enquired about her family. She had two children, she said, and her husband was an estate worker, too. ‘When would he return?’ Ratan queried, evidently hoping to meet him. The woman smiled coyly and then added, with disarming candour, that her husband had two wives and was spending a few days with the other woman. Ratan found her touching fatalism to be quite enlightening.</p>.<p>Thanking the woman for her hospitality, Ratan and Prakash left, and the incident was soon forgotten. Twelve years later, in October 2009, Ratan was back in Munnar and once again expressed a desire to visit a worker’s home informally, without any fanfare.</p>.<p>As Tata Tea’s industrial relations officer in Munnar, Prakash was again deputed to accompany him. As they set off, Ratan jocularly remarked with a lopsided grin, “Now don’t take me to a home where the husband has <br>two wives!”</p>.<p>For a globe-trotting business magnate of his mighty stature, he hadn’t forgotten an incident from 12 years earlier involving a lowly employee.</p>
<p>Having read my tribute to Ratan Tata published in DH a while ago, a former colleague in Tata Tea recalled an intriguing incident highlighting another aspect of Ratan’s multifaceted personality, not to mention his droll sense of humour.</p>.<p>The day after his formal visit to a worker’s house in Munnar in April 1997, Ratan expressed a desire to see another worker’s home, which he said he would choose at random. The worker’s house we had shown him earlier had, of course, been specially spruced up for his visit, and the occupants had been alerted. </p><p>Apparently, he now wanted to see for himself the actual unvarnished living conditions of a worker at the grassroots level.</p>.<p>Accordingly, the next day, minus the previous day’s entourage, Ratan, accompanied by my colleague Prakash, headed, unannounced, for a workers’ colony near Munnar. Selecting a particular house at random, Ratan asked the driver to stop, and Prakash led him inside. It was a humble, poorly lit, scantily furnished and rather drab two-room tenement. They found a woman, an estate tea picker, in the kitchen cooking an austerely simple midday meal.</p>.<p>Acting as a translator, Prakash introduced the visitor, but the unlettered woman was clueless about his identity. Nevertheless, she promptly produced a crude stool for Ratan to sit on. She then very courteously offered to make him a cup of tea and, on getting his gracious acceptance, hastened to prepare it.</p>.<p>Sipping the tea, Ratan conversationally enquired about her family. She had two children, she said, and her husband was an estate worker, too. ‘When would he return?’ Ratan queried, evidently hoping to meet him. The woman smiled coyly and then added, with disarming candour, that her husband had two wives and was spending a few days with the other woman. Ratan found her touching fatalism to be quite enlightening.</p>.<p>Thanking the woman for her hospitality, Ratan and Prakash left, and the incident was soon forgotten. Twelve years later, in October 2009, Ratan was back in Munnar and once again expressed a desire to visit a worker’s home informally, without any fanfare.</p>.<p>As Tata Tea’s industrial relations officer in Munnar, Prakash was again deputed to accompany him. As they set off, Ratan jocularly remarked with a lopsided grin, “Now don’t take me to a home where the husband has <br>two wives!”</p>.<p>For a globe-trotting business magnate of his mighty stature, he hadn’t forgotten an incident from 12 years earlier involving a lowly employee.</p>
