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00:00I'm joined now by Mr. S. Ramudurai, former CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services and
00:05Chairman of the Advisory Board at Tata Strive.
00:08Mr. Ramudurai, thank you so much for the time and you know for speaking to us today on what
00:15is a very, very I'm sure a poignant day for you as well.
00:21Let's start with what has been your biggest learning or biggest takeaway from Mr. Ratan
00:26Tata, not just the leader, the boss, but also the human being.
00:31I think both from a human dimension point of view as well as from a corporate business
00:37point of view.
00:38As a person who set a benchmark in terms of racing the bar all the time, and more importantly
00:45getting involved and helping all of us to be a part of the journey.
00:50We never felt that we were being treated as employees, but we were treated as colleagues,
00:55friends, and the length of time we spent with him for more than 50 years grew from everyday's
01:03interaction with him whenever it was possible.
01:06Overall, it is a learning experience for how good corporate citizens must perform, good
01:14corporate behavior, governance, and care for the community at large.
01:19These are some of the lessons which we learned and we observed at close quarters having been
01:22with him both personally and professionally over our careers.
01:26Right.
01:27Mr. Ramadurai, you know, could you tell us about the vision that Mr. Tata had when you
01:36were around with TCS when it comes to technology and the role India could play and what he
01:42had in mind when it comes to TCS specifically?
01:47I think one is TCS as a jewel in the crown of the Tata Group.
01:52I think it wanted to unshackle its ownership from a single owner named Tata Sons to a number
02:00of retail as well as institutional investors.
02:04And India being the country where we wanted to list both on the National Stock Exchange
02:08and the Bombay Stock Exchange, these are some things where we could test the common man
02:13in the true ethos and the value systems of the group.
02:16And we also priced the product so well at 850 rupees a share, which was affordable to
02:23a lot of people.
02:24You could buy one share, 10 shares, any number of shares based on the allotment.
02:28At the end of the day, the IPO was one of the largest subscribed and affordable IPO.
02:35And today, after the enlisting in 2004, in 19 or 20 years, what we have achieved is a
02:42multiplication of unimaginable proportions.
02:46So we have touched the people at large, brought in technology proactively and applied it to
02:50a number of contexts, both in the domestic as well as the global industry.
02:55Mr. Ramadurai, I just want to understand now, how do you see the Tata Trust leadership going
03:03forward?
03:04On the corporate side, Tata Suns structure is pretty clear, all the companies are very
03:10well managed and professionally managed.
03:12But Tata Trust, which has such a big share of Tata Suns as well, now, of course, Ratan
03:19Tata was the chairman.
03:21How does that move forward and how does that change things within the Tata group?
03:25Can you give us your perspective there?
03:28I think anything Tata does will be only transparent and you will see the outcomes as soon as possible.
03:35It's not good to, what do you call, talk about things which will ultimately happen.
03:42We cannot assume or do the guesswork and it will be done in total transparency and the
03:46right person to do the right way for the Tata Trust and in turn the community which we stand
03:52for will be visible.
03:54I think the value systems have always been a part of this 160 plus years of the group
04:00and we believe that we will never compromise that under any circumstances.
04:04So I think there is enough leadership available to take this forward and I'm sure you will
04:09see the proofs of those as soon as possible and very soon.
04:12Today we are celebrating the life of a man, mourning the sad demise at the age of 86.
04:19And let's make sure that we remember the man and carry forward his memory as we go into
04:24the future.
04:25Not only the memory but also value systems and the governance and the touching of human
04:29beings at large, common citizens at large and the global presence is what we are looking at.
04:35Absolutely agree with you.
04:36Thank you so much Mr. Ramadurai for the time that you have given us and for sharing your
04:41experience and memory with Mr. Ratan Tata.