How did India come to have such a high regard for the Tatas?

Well, I’ll answer that with another situation: Remember how India applauded as Tata took over Air India? Each of us had watched the national airline plummeting from bad to worse, but as soon as the Tatas took it over, it was like a mighty roar of approval.

I spent two days at the Taj to find the reason for this electric positivity.

There, I found that the service and warmth extended were beyond anything I had experienced anywhere else. The Tatas had employees with a magic touch.

And it’s the very same magic touch of warmth, honesty and integrity that has made every Indian have such a high regard for the Tata name.

So, as the country bids ‘tata’ to our beloved Ratan, let us not say adieu to the values that the house of Tatas has cherished and made us cherish when we saw their name on some product in a store or emblazoned behind the Air India name as their aircraft fly the sky.

Because it is so easy to fall, and be a name that was revered only in the past, and maybe the late Ratan Tata was getting old, but the values started dropping: I flew Air India after the Tatas took over. Broken seats, no movies on a long-haul flight because the video screens on the aircraft were not working, reading lights not functioning, and staff who were reluctant to serve, let alone offer a smile. The excuse given was that ‘give us a few months, as we are changing what has been rotting for years!’

A few months back, I flew the airline again, this time to the UK and found the brand new staff, even worse than before, with electric switches that worked by putting the neighbour’s light on.

Two days ago, I flew Vistara, which I always thought was the classiest of all the airlines, but which has been bought by Air India, and found surly staff and terrible service.

There’s only one message I want to give to a company the whole of India admires, the way you can cherish Ratan Tata and keep him ever alive in the hearts of us Indians is to uphold those values that he had and allow them to burn even brighter.

Not just the Tata’s but to all we Indians, who were blessed with great leaders. Let us keep bright the values they ignited.

And never say ‘tata to Tata!’