The TATA Man

I would like to narrate a few recent incidents which humbled me.

When I stepped into Chennai airport a couple of days ago after a business trip abroad, a person approached me and asked for my passport for some checks. Since that person was in plain clothes, I refused to show my passport. Then he mentioned that he is from intelligence wing and is doing a check. I asked him to produce his ID card and then gave him my passport. While taking a look at my passport, he asked me what I do for a living to which I replied that I work for the TATA group. He immediately handed over my passport back, probably thinking that a TATA employee does not need verification and then moved on to another person. 

Recently, I was attending a conference where I was mentioning to people about some of the quality and performance initiatives we are pursuing. Their reaction was something like “you are from TATA and this is something we expect from the house of TATA”. 

I was talking to a perfect stranger in an airport and when he asked what do I do, I replied that I am an employee of TATA. The individual mentioned, “I thought so, as you sound like a TATA man”. I don't know why he said that but thought that some of the group's values rubbed on me over a period of time.

Whenever I need to meet top bureaucrats, I am able to schedule appoints immediately due to the respect they have for the organization.

In my view, the TATA stamp adds a lot of respect to the individual who is associated with the iconic brand. The brand was nurtured by the good deeds of the past leaders starting from Jamsetji to Ratan Tata who went above and beyond the call of duty and endeared themselves to the people of India. It is a humbling experience to receive respect by default due to the hard work of the TATA stalwarts.