Ratan Tata's neighbors in Colaba share stories of everyday encounters with the billionaire | On trend

A nation mourns the loss of its icon as celebrated industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata breathed his last on Wednesday evening. Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, died in Mumbai after a brief illness. He was 86.

He was a towering icon of industry and philanthropy, known for both his compassionate nature and his business acumen. In the hours after his death, several Mumbaikars recounted their chance encounters with the humble billionaire who walked among common men.

“Very down-to-earth and humble”

An X user, who goes by the name Lotus on the microblogging platform, remembered Ratan Tata as a “very down to earth” person who always stopped to chat with neighborhood kids.

“I have some fond memories of Sir Ratan Tata. When I lived in Colaba a few decades ago, he lived next door in Bakhtawar and walked his two Doberman dogs every evening in shorts and a T-shirt,” the woman recalls.

Bakhtawar is the name of Ratan Tata's house in Colaba, Mumbai. According to the X user, Ratan Tata seemed like a simple and friendly man who always stopped to say hello and chat with the kids on the premises.

The woman said she sometimes saw the billionaire playing tennis or drinking tea at the US club. “A kind and gallant gentleman, that is the memory I have of this legend,” she wrote.

“He stopped and talked to me.”

Another former neighbor of Ratan Tata, Abhishek Deshpande, recalled the billionaire walking his two dogs every evening a few decades ago. Deshpande recalled that when Ratan Tata saw him, he stopped to chat with him. The memory left strong traces.

“It reminds me of the first time I met Ratan Tata when I was growing up in Mumbai. He was on his regular evening walk with his dogs at the United Services Club in Colaba. How down-to-earth can you be, when he saw that I wanted to shake his hand, he stopped and told me about my school,” he recalled on X.

“No assistants, no security”

Debargha Ambuly said he caught a glimpse of the national icon when he just moved to Mumbai. Ambuly saw Ratan Tata as the business tycoon got out of his car without an entourage or security guards.

“What a man! What an icon! What a life! What a true India! I saw him when I had just moved to Mumbai – near Colaba, getting out of a Mercedes S-Class and looking for a building,” he recalled. “No assistants, no security. And the people nearby were in awe.”