15 Times Ratan Tata Proved That He Is A Role Model For Each One Of Us

Ratan Tata has proved multiple times that he is much more than just a business tycoon. Despite being born into a wealthy family he started everything from a basic level. He proved that you can stay rich, powerful, and humble at the same time. Someone who sticks to his words and is an inspiration to millions.

Here are some of the real-life incidents about Ratan Tata when he won us over with his humbleness and humility:

1. Worked as an employee in his own company

Ratan Tata was born in a rich family but he still worked as a blue-collar worker at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, till 1971. After refusing to work with IBM in New York Ratan Tata worked on the ground level at Tata Steel, handling the blast furnace and shoveling limestone. With his good suggestions and good decision-making skill, he moved further to manage different aspects of the company. He started from the basics and understood everything.

2. When he waved back to a driver

One day, a boss asked his driver about his day. The chauffeur replied that he had just seen Ratan Tata while he was driving. “What’s such a big deal about it?” asked his boss.

He replied with a huge grin on his face, “I waved at him and he waved back.”

3. When he congratulated the whole team on a video call

A team of youth planned and designed a board meeting in which they used every kind of latest sound and visual appliance and they invited Ratan Tata. Once the project was over, Ratan Tata, on a video call, congratulated the entire team and appreciated them.

4. When he rewarded the best-failed idea

Ratan Tata started an annual contest in Tata Group that will reward the best-failed idea in the company. The aim was to bring innovative ideas and also avoid risks and foster frugal innovation in the company. He said,

“To spark innovation and keep the company from avoiding risks, the prize is intended to communicate how important trying and failing can be. “Failure is a Gold Mine!””

5. When he traveled on an economy class flight

On 22 January 2016, a guy posted a picture on Facebook of him and Ratan Tata in flight which went viral. Despite the fact that Ratan Tata could have easily chosen business class he took the economy class and set an example. The picture was clicked when Air Asia inaugurated their flight to Goa.

6. When he fulfilled his dream of making the most affordable car

Ratan Tata’s aim was to provide a low-cost all-weather car to every household. And that he achieved after the launch of Tata Nano. It took him almost six years to bring Nano to the market. “We’ve kept our promise”, he said in an interview after revealing Nano to the public. He further added,

“The dream was to provide a low-cost, all-weather form of transport to people who couldn’t afford a car. Most people felt it can’t be done. But we worked against conventions and broke barriers to produce the Nano. We didn’t expect it to attract the kind of attention it did. The Nano is dedicated to the young people of India to inspire them.”

7. Came back to personally meet the students

Ratan Tata was the chief guest at the 25th-anniversary celebration of a school. During the event, an incident took place in which a bunch of students pushed one of their classmates in front of Ratan Tata so they can clearly see the business tycoon. The principal immediately took the step and moved them aside. Ratan Tata told them that he will meet them later.

After the event got completed he went to meet those children and said,

‘I promised you that I would come back, didn’t I?’

8. Ratan Tata sits next to his driver

Ratan Tata has always set an example by staying humble, he is a big example of no matter how rich and powerful you are, you should always stay grounded. It can be proved by the fact that whenever he is riding alone he sits next to his driver. And, when the driver is not around he enjoys driving himself around.

9. He took over Jaguar Land Rover from Ford

In 1998, after the poor response of Tata Indica in its first year, Ratan Tata decided to sell his passenger car business to Ford. Then the chairman of Ford, Bill Ford said,

“If you do not know anything, why did you start the passenger car division at all. It will be a favor if we buy this business from you.”

Nine years after the embarrassment, when Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy Tata Group offered to buy their luxury car brand, Jaguar Land Rover. Ford chairman Bill Ford thanked Ratan Tata, saying,

“You are doing us a big favour by buying JLR”

10. Went to personally meet all 26/11 affected families of 80 employees

The families who got affected during the 26/11 attack, personally visited them and gave every employee full compensation along with the responsibility for their children’s proper education. Also medical facilities for the entire family for the rest of their lives. Their loans were also waived off irrespective of the amount.

Not only this, Tata Group sponsored the medication and surgery of a 4-year-old granddaughter of a vendor who was shot by 4 bullets during the incident. Even the railway employees, the police staff, and the pedestrians were also helped in the form of compensation and they barely had anything to do with Tata.

This shows the humanitarian side of Ratan Tata.

11. Visited a sick former employee during the pandemic

On 5th January 2021, Ratan Tata visited a former employee of his company who was sick for the last 2 years. He took the flight from Mumbai to Pune during a pandemic time. It shows the kind of heart he has.

12. Helped students for higher education who had financial problems

Tata Trusts give financial help and scholarships to students. Deserving students can take benefit from The J.N. Tata Endowment, Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship, and Tata Scholarship who are planning to study in international universities. Multiple scholarships are being given by the Trust that helps students to achieve their educational dreams.

This is what you call a noble way to strengthen and help society rather than using one’s wealth to help ourselves. The financial aid will uplift the youth and the future of India.

13. When he decided to fight against malnutrition among the children in India

In 2012, Ratan Tata opened up about the issue of child malnutrition and how it is like a plague in India. He said,

“My most visible goal is to do something in nutrition to children and pregnant mothers in India. Because that would change the mental and physical health of our population in years to come.”

Tata Trusts has partnered with non-profits and philanthropic organizations for the plan and working on the issue.

14. Provided support to help relieve the impact of COVID-19

Ratan Tata took a step forward by donating a large amount of money when covid-19 impacted us badly. He decided to offer Rs.500 crores for essential items like PPE kits, testing kits, respiratory systems, etc. for health care workers.

15. Reached out to his fans to adopt and take care of homeless pets

It can be clearly seen on the social media account of Ratan Tata that he is quite vocal about animals who are abandoned or mistreated. At Tata Group of Bombay, he also incorporated a kennel room in order to provide shelter to stray dogs. He also supports many NGOs and animal shelters.