Ratan Tata and Shantanu Naidu: The friendship of a millennial and a millionaire that touched everyone's hearts

Business magnate Ratan Tata, who died at 86, shared a unique friendship with his young assistant Shantanu Naidu.
Among those mourning the loss of the business tycoon Ratan Tata, who passed away on Wednesday night at the age of 86, was a young man on a bike who led the hearse on his final journey. Shantanu Naidu was Tata's loyal assistant and one of his closest aides. Despite being younger than Tata by far, the two had a special bond.
Following the announcement of Ratan Tata's passing, Shantanu posted a touching message honoring their friendship. I shall dedicate the rest of my life to attempting to replace the void that this friendship has now created in my life. The price we pay for love is grief. My dear lighthouse, good bye.

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The two met over 10 years ago in 2014, when Shantanu began working with the Tata Group.

Love for dogs brought them closer

A fifth generation Tata employee, Shantanu had begun designing glow-in-the-dark collars for stray dogs to make it easier for drivers to spot them and avoid accidents.

The animal lover needed funding to help grow his company and he decided to write a letter to Ratan Tata seeking his help. To his surprise, Tata wrote back within two months, inviting Shantanu to come to Mumbai and work with him.

Bonding over their love for animals, the two worked closely to help launch Shantanu's company "Motopaws". 

Shantanu also launched Good Fellows, a startup that connects the elderly with young companions. "I don’t know when it began, but I’ve always had a sense of affection for the elderly. Looking back, I realise many of my friends have silver hair and gold hearts," he wrote on the website.

The two grew closer over their shared initiatives but soon, Shantanu had to leave for US to pursue his MBA. However, he promised Tata that he will return to India and work for him once he graduated.

Keeping his promise, Shantanu accepted an offer to be Ratan Tata's assistant and was also appointed as the manager of the Tata Trust, the youngest person to hold the position. In turn, Tata attended his graduation ceremony.

Watch movies, got haircuts together

In a BBC profile, Shantanu shared that the two spent a lot of time together from getting haircuts to watching films. Shantanu even set up Tata's Instagram account which the industrialist used to share old pictures of himself and photos of his dogs.

Shantanu said both of them enjoyed action comedy films such as The Other Guys and The Lone Ranger, but Tata's favourite show to binge was Fauda.

Naidu affectionately called Tata "Millennial Dumbledore", a name he claimed defined the 86-year-old who was wise like the Harry Potter character but still young at heart.

During the Covid pandemic, Shantanu released his first book 'Came Upon A Lighthouse' based on the life lessons he learnt from his boss. "He's been a hard boss, a core mentor as well as an understanding friend," he told the BBC. Creative Blogger,