In his memoir, Shantanu Naidu wrote about the time he spent ‘half his final salary’ to buy a shirt from the same brand favoured by Ratan Tata.

Legendary industrialist Ratan Tata died on October 9 after a brief hospitalisation in Mumbai. He was 86. While his death left a nation shocked and grieving, it was a more personal blow to those closest to him. One such person was Shantanu Naidu, a part of Ratan Tata’s inner circle and considered one of his closest aides.

He had shared an emotional post for the iconic industrialist hours after his death, saying he would spend the rest of his life trying to fill the hole left by Ratan Tata’s absence.

After Ratan Tata’s death, his assistant Shantanu Naidu was seen leading his hearse to the funeral venue on a motorcycle. A visibly emotional Naidu refused to answer media questions as he was whisked away from Worli Crematorium after the funeral.

In his 2021 memoir “I Came Upon a Lighthouse: A Short Memoir of Life with Ratan Tata,” Shantanu Naidu revealed the full story of how he, a young employee from Pune, became one of Ratan Tata’s closest friends.

A letter from Naidu to Ratan Tata led to their first meeting. The two bonded over a shared love of animals. In fact, the memoir also reveals how Naidu tried to imitate Ratan Tata and imbibe some of his best qualities during their time together.

One such incident, documented in the book, stands out for its frankness and subtle humour.

All for a shirt

In his memoir, Naidu recalled how, before leaving India to pursue higher education at Cornell University in the United States, he requested a meeting with Ratan Tata during the initial stages of their friendship.

Naidu was delighted when the billionaire industrialist invited him to a farewell dinner. To dress up for this important meeting, he bought a shirt from the same luxury brand that Ratan Tata—Brooks Brothers favoured.

In his memoir, Naidu admitted with disarming frankness that he bought a Brooks Brothers shirt after noticing that Ratan Tata wears them, too. Identifying the brand “involved a lot of squint-eyed staring at the logo on his shirt during our previous meetings,” he said.

Unfortunately, he had to spend “half of his final month’s salary” on the purchase. Shantanu Naidu admitted, again with surprising candour, that he did not look good in the luxury retailer’s shirt despite its staggering price tag, as he was not feeling well.

The shirt made another appearance in Naidu’s memoir. He revealed that he would sometimes meet Ratan Tata during his time in the United States. When the industrialist discovered he had ripped his expensive Brooks shirt on a nail, he hunted down the same one in a store.

When the two argued at the billing counter over who would pay for this new shirt, Tata shut him down with a simple question. “Can’t I give my friend a shirt?” he asked Naidu.