A rather persistent shareholder, who has been tenaciously behind Tata Group supremo, Mr Ratan Tata, to know how he prioritised honesty, knowledge and experience, got his answer much to the delight of a responsive crowd at the Tata Power's AGM here.

Acknowledging that he had not responded on the earlier occasion, Mr Tata said, as he saw it, knowledge and experience can be acquired, but honesty was in the DNA.

“That's how I see it,” Mr Tata said.

An instantaneous chatter followed with many heads nodding in agreement, perhaps acknowledging that the man who had spoken epitomised the virtues all cherished.

On the flip side, there were none in the hall who did not understand the clever ploy to get the country's top industrialist to respond to an issue that is holding the centre stage in New Delhi.

Time to move on

Then there were many who wanted him to hold fort of the Tata empire, which he politely negated by saying a committee had been formed to select a worthy successor.

For each of the shareholders who pleaded for his continuance, he had different answers. “Please let me go through my life,” he said to one. To another, who likened his leadership to piloting the Tata Group, he said,” I also want to fly.”

Finally, the response to an elderly gentleman's appeal said it all. “There comes a time people need to move on.”

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