Shantanu Naidu Says Mumbai Cops Comforted Him During Ratan Tata's Funeral

Ratan Tata’s trusted 30-year-old assistant, Shantanu Naidu, mourned the loss of the national icon in a post shared early this morning. Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, one of India's biggest conglomerates, died late on Wednesday night after a brief illness. He was 86.

In his LinkedIn post, Tata’s close aide Shantanu Naidu reflected not on his many business achievements but their close friendship.

“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. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse,” wrote the 30-year-old General Manager at the Office of Ratan Tata. He also shared a throwback photo which shows the two of them together.

Days after the beloved industrialist departed, Naidu shared yet another post for his friend and mentor. 

“Finally getting a chance to sit down and feel things. Still trying to accept the fact that I will never be able to see him smile again or give him a chance to smile,” Naidu wrote.

He also thanked the Mumbai Police for their tribute to Ratan Tata who was cremated with full state honours on October 10 (Thursday). “These generous policemen of Mumbai were so kind that they embraced the whole city. It felt like a farewell gift. Thank you, that’s what I really mean,” Naidu added on his LinkedIn post.

Here is what you need to know about Shantanu Naidu

• Shantanu Naidu was born in 1993 in Pune, Maharashtra.
• He is an engineer, junior assistant, Deputy General Manager, social media influencer, author and entrepreneur.
• He now assists Ratan Tata with "venture capital and mentoring startups."
• He is a fifth-generation Tata employee.
• He holds an MBA from Cornell University.
• As per his LinkedIn profile, he started in the company as a Business Strategy Intern after graduating in 2014 and joined Tata Trusts in 2018 after Ratan Tata asked him to.
• In an interview with Humans of Bombay, he wrote how Ratan Tata got in touch with him and asked him to join back, "As soon as I came back to India, he gave me a call and said ‘I have a lot of work to be done in my office. Would you like to be my assistant?’ -- I didn't know how to react. So I took a deep breath, and a few seconds later said ‘Yes!"
• He is also an author and founded his start-up called 'Motopaws'. The objective was to ensure the safety of street animals.
• Currently, Motopaws, his brainchild, operates in 20 cities across 4 countries, and its presence continues to grow.
• As per reports, he wrote a letter to Ratan Tata telling him about Motopaws and how he was struggling with funding. That's when he kickstarted the organization's funding.
• The two share a close mentor-mentee relationship. Shantanu has mentioned it in his book, 'I Came Upon a Lighthouse'. The book talks about his experience working with business tycoon Ratan Tata.
• He also started an initiative called, 'On Your Sparks' where he hosted webinars for youngsters and gave them tips on how to begin their start-up journey. The profits would go into expanding Motopaws.