Ratan Naval Tata’s trusted aide and youngest Managing Director Shantanu Naidu mourned the loss of the veteran business tycoon and national icon. Shantanu bid farewell to Ratan Tata, the iconic industrialist, by comparing his boss to a ‘lighthouse’.

Shantanu, 30, shared a heartfelt post on social media about his ‘sweet lighthouse’ and expressed the deep void left by the industrialist’s passing. “I will try to fill the hole that this friendship has left for me for the rest of my life. Sadness is the price you have to pay for love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse,” his message read.

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons and philanthropist, died on October 9. He was 86. He was admitted to Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital in critical condition, where he breathed his last. Several politicians and industry leaders have expressed shock and grief over Ratan Tata’s death.

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How Shantanu Naidu and Ratan Tata met

Both Shantanu Naidu and Ratan Tata had immense love and care for dogs. Ratan Tata was nicknamed ‘Millennial Dumbledore’, a title given to him by his assistant, Shantanu Naidu, who worked closely with the industrialist from 2018 onwards.

The story behind this title dates back to 2014, when Naidu, then a design engineer at Tata Group, embarked on a mission to protect stray dogs after witnessing a tragic accident involving one dog. Pained by the sight of a stray dog’s death, Shantanu created a reflective collar to help motorists spot the strays more quickly. Faced with financial problems, his father advised him to write to Ratan Tata, whose love for dogs knows no introduction. Hesitant but hopeful, Naidu sent a handwritten letter and two months later he was surprised to receive a reply from Tata, inviting him to Mumbai. Ratan Tata replied with much more than an acknowledgment. Naidu received an investment from Tata and a lasting bond for this venture. Naidu soon went to the US for his masters and upon return was posted in the Office of RNT, the industrialist’s private office after his stint as chairman of Tata Sons.

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Outside of his day job as a business manager for Tata, Naidu continued to create socially relevant platforms and services, and his permissive boss often supported these ideas. Chief among these was Goodfellows, a subscription-based companionship service for seniors that launched in 2022.

Even though Ratan Tata was struggling in the healthcare space, he made sure to attend the launch event for the startup in which he had invested an undisclosed amount. The images of that event are still fresh in everyone’s minds, just like that of Naidu celebrating his boss’ birthday a few months earlier.

(With input from the agency)