I am fascinated by Lighthouses; they are lifesavers.
They guide ships safely through areas of low visibility, such as fog or darkness and save them from cliffs and rocky shores. So, when I was browsing to build up my reading lineup for 2023, I picked up “I came upon a lighthouse” by Shantanu Naidu. A Short Memoir of his life with Mr Ratan Tata.
Shantanu is a young yet experienced founder with an MBA from Cornell University. He also works as a General Manager at the Office of Ratan Naval Tata. This book is a short and refreshing memoir reminiscing his life’s eventful journey. Starting Moto Paws with his friends (a start-up that makes reflective collars for stray dogs to prevent roadkill & accidents), the uncommon friendship between him and octogenarian Indian business legend Mr Ratan Tata (who he cutely describes as “Millennial Dumbledore!”), his compassion, love for dogs, coping with loneliness while pursuing his MBA at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and the warm relationships he shares with family, friends, colleagues, and Mr Ratan Tata as a mentor, friend, and a boss.
He also shares the unexposed childlike yet graceful side of the legendary business icon of India. You can explore why Mr Tata is legendary through the articles below - https://www.tata.com/about-us/tata-group-our-heritage/tata-titans/ratan-naval-tata and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratan_Tata.
What I loved about this book was Shantanu’s compassion, his candid unassuming nature, his resolve to act with kindness, his love for dogs and music, his courage to share his flaws and the incredible life lessons that he learned from Mr Tata himself. Also, the illustrations in the book by Sanjana Desai gives the reader a warm and vivid visual representation of people. This book is to be enjoyed on a chilly winter or rainy day with a warm cup of tea/coffee by the window—some beautiful lessons and quotes from the books for your reading pleasure.
1. “Stories that end pleasantly don’t always start in pleasant places”.
2. When Mr Tata asks, “Tell me what I can do for you”, – Shantanu replies, “Nothing, Mr Tata. I came here to build a relationship to help you materialise any vision you might have for animals.”
3. On being prepared: “If he (Mr Tata) has a question, you don’t return with just that answer. you come prepared for ten more questions about it”.
4. On innovation: A very important thing I have observed with Mr Tara is that when introduced to an innovation, the uniqueness of the innovation in itself isn't always a thing of awe to him, but a societal problem that could be solved through the application of this innovation is.
5. On showing empathy: “Most start-ups would not send their concepts in the form of a pitch deck. When I started asking for pitch decks, I either received a haphazard PowerPoint presentation or questions asking me what a pitch deck even was. So I made a small outline of a pitch deck and made it a point to send it across in the first email. That way, even if the proposal was rejected in the second email, the entrepreneur would at least walk away knowing what a pitch deck was. The next time they pitched to a VC, they would not be lost. Even with rejections, I spent time apologising for not being able to help and wishing them the best in their endeavours. With all this, we never got another negative response or follow-up.”
6. On encouraging discussions: “He encouraged discussion. He encouraged contrasting perspectives, and devil's advocacy was not at all an issue. But it had to have a healthy motive: arriving at an analytically validated conclusion. If your motive was rooted in prejudice or bias, then the discussion would be pointless, frustrating, and unwelcome.”
7. “Lighthouses get shrouded too. Sometimes there's fog, sometimes mist, sometimes a storm. But the beacon is always lit. It's always there.”
8. My obsession with getting stuff done annoyed him (Mr Tata), but he was also giving me a very important hint for the future-which he had to say out loud because I was too thick-headed. “Shantaa-nu, there will be times when we can get through stuff, and there will be times when we can't. And when we can’t, don’t feel so caught up in getting it done no matter what. It’s okay.”
9. Parsi phrase inscribed on JRD Tata Tomb “ Humata Huxta Huvarshta” which translates to good thought, good word, good act.
10. Moulding doesn't happen with cotton and wool. It happens with heat and hammer. It happens with confrontation, criticism, and uncomfortable conversations.
11. Best teaching method: When he (Mr Tata) is done with the haircut, he won't just tip the hairdresser. He will tip the person who shampooed his hair, the person who got him coffee, the person who swept the hair off the floor. And then he will turn around to ensure I have done the same before finally leaving. That's how he teaches me things in the best way possible: by example. How much you can learn from someone like Ratan Tata is less about him handing out life lessons and more about how attentively you observe and listen.
Regards, Thomas Irudayaraj