The unassuming Harish Bhat would describe himself as a lifelong student of marketing. But depending on whom you speak to, a different side to the personality of the 51-year-old MD & CEO of Tata Global Beverages Ltd comes to light. Bhat was recently inducted into the Group Executive Council (GEC) of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, and will take up his new assignment on April 1, reporting to group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry.

His colleagues at Tata Global, like CFO L Krishna Kumar and CEO-designate Ajoy Misra, think he is their in-house journalist. For his family and close network of friends, he is an incorrigible foodie (fruity red wines, cheese and sea-food) and a fitness freak bundled into one small package.

Whenever he’s not globe-trotting, as his recent assignment required to shuttle between Mumbai, London and Bangalore, he could be spotted riding his flashy red Schwinn bicycle on the roads of Bangalore. Other professional acquaintances, who frequent the offices of Tata Global, think he would rarely let anyone pass by without making them taste the new offering from the company. Bhat himself will tell you about his collection of four-dozen-plus hats.

Then, there is one thing that everyone agrees upon. Bhat is one absolute bundle of energy. Even at the end of a hard day’s work, it’s not unusual to find Bhat bubbling with enthusiasm and coming up with a dozen ideas to solve any issue. Despite doing a busy day job as a CEO of one of the largest tea companies globally, Bhat still manages to take out time to write regularly in newspapers, including Business Line . That writing is his first love is no secret. Bhat even took a sabbatical from work for nine months to author a book on the Tata Group called the Tata Log, and will fondly recall how he began writing for newspapers as a middle-writer.

The BITS Pilani graduate and a gold medallist from IIM-A has spent all his working years with Tata Group and holds JRD Tata and Ratan Tata as his favourite business icons.

Bhat is a member of the Tata Administrative Service and spent 27 years with the Tata group working in several group companies from Tata Chemicals at a time when the legendary Darbari Seth ruled the roost, before rapidly scaling the corporate ladder to become the COO at Titan, and then taking charge at Tata Global Beverages.

Ask Bhat about his passion for writing, he would say with his disarming smile that whenever he takes a flight or he has some spare time, he pens down a few lines. “I utilise my Sundays that way,” he says.

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