Our Vice Chancellor Shri Darshan Shankar remembers Sir Ratan Tata

My experience of Ratan Tata is confined to my three, ‘one to one’ interactions with him in the

knowledge space, the earliest being when I was 22 and he worked as the MD of a small company called NELCO. What has touched and impacted me the most is him being a compassionate and noble human being. Nobility is a rare quality in special humans who give abundantly and gracefully to worthy causes on merit, without “ever” expecting anything in return. Nobility is usually accompanied by humility. I was always struck by the utter humility and lack of ego in Mr Ratan Tata whenever I met him.

I was once introduced to him in a room in which he was seated alone but before I could reach the sofa to shake his hands, he had already risen from his seat and moving towards me. I am a nobody and normally a person of his stature would simply remain seated until someone would walk up to them but Mr Tata’s humility will be evident to those reading this anecdote.

When I heard he had passed away, I felt an unexpected emotion that usually arises when one experiences loss of someone close. I did not expect to feel so because although I have met Ratan Tata several times for long conversations, I certainly did not have a personal relationship with him. But each time we met, he listened carefully with an open mind and with rapt attention. I probably felt so emotional on his passing because of the deep respect, admiration and gratitude I carried for him deep within my consciousness.

We are also deeply grateful for the tremendous institutional support we received from him for establishing both the Trans Disciplinary University and its 100 bedded charitable hospital, the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine (www.iaimhealthcare.org) which were major philanthropic investments towards “institution building” seeded by the TATA TRUSTS that has fructified and continues to grow..

Ratan Tata like JRD before him had a deep respect for Ayurveda. On his half day visit to IAIM- TDU in 2011 to inaugurate the hospital, he said the following about Ayurveda...

“I think those of us who have an open mind realize that if there could be a fusion of Ayurveda and Western Medicine, we could improve treatments and early detection of some diseases”

His spirit and memories will guide generations to come. Rest in Peace, Ratan Tata