Goodbye my lighthouse, Tata's long-time associate Naidu bids adieu to his boss
Mumbai (PTI): Shantanu Naidu, a long-time associate of Ratan Tata, on Thursday bid adieu to the industrialist, comparing his boss to a "lighthouse".
"The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill," Naidu, a general manager in the Office of RNT, wrote on a professional networking site in the early hours.
Later in the morning, everybody saw Naidu riding out of Tata's house on a Yezdi motorcycle, leading the truck carrying his boss' mortal remains.
"Grief is the price to pay for love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse," said the short post, accompanied by a picture of the two in what seems like a chartered aircraft.
It was the mutual love and concern for dogs which had formed a bond between Tata and Naidu, a Pune-based youngster who had started working for a Tata group company.
Pained by the sight of a stray dog's death, Reddy created a reflective collar to help motorists notice the strays quicker and wrote to Tata about the same.
Tata replied with much more than an acknowledgement. Naidu received an investment from Tata for this venture and an enduring bond.
Naidu soon went to the US for his masters and on the return, got placed in the Office of RNT, the private office of the industrialist post his stint as Tata Sons Chairman.
Outside of his day job of managing affairs for Tata, Naidu kept creating socially relevant platforms and services, and his indulgent boss often backed these ideas, up prime among them was Goodfellows, a subscription-based companionship service for senior citizens started in 2022.
Though struggling on the health front, Tata made sure that he attends the launch event for the startup in which he had invested an undisclosed sum.
Visuals of that event are fresh on everybody's mind, as are the ones of Naidu celebrating his boss' birthday a few months before.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
