Ratan Tata’s final journey: An emotional Shantanu Naidu leads his hearse on bike

Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata’s close aide and manager of the Tata Trust, led his hearse on a bike as the industrialist’s body was taken to Mumbai’s NCPA for public viewing.
Billionaire tycoon and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata died late on Wednesday night after a brief illness at the age of 86.
In a video shared on social media, the 30-year-old, dressed in all white, can be seen riding a bike in front of the ambulance among multiple police vehicles escorting his hearse to NCPA.
A post shared by Varinder Chawla (@varindertchawla)
Naidu, who was also Tata’s assistant, mourned the loss of the tycoon in a post on LinkedIn shared early this morning.
The deeply personal note reflected the unlikely friendship between the two men. (Also read: Ratan Tata felt ‘humiliated’ by his classmates at Harvard University: ‘Crossed out day by day’)
“The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill. Grief is the price to pay for love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse,” he wrote, sharing a picture of the two.
Naidu’s unlikely friendship with Ratan Tata began over their shared love for animals.
Naidu started a small business venture called ‘Motopaws’ that put reflective collars on stray dogs to help motorists avoid hitting them on the street in the dark.
In 2014, Naidu, a fifth generation Tata employee, wrote to the philanthropist billionaire seeking his help with his initiative. To his surprise, Tata wrote back to him two months later and invited him to Mumbai to work for the Tata group.
Naidu moved to the US to pursue an MBA at Cornell University, just like his mentor, but promised to return to India and work for Tata Trust.
Keeping his promise, Naidu accepted an offer to be Tata’s assistant after he completed his MBA and came back home.
Over the last few years, Tata was often accompanied by Naidu in his rare public appearances. (Also read: Ratan Tata almost got married four times: What industrialist revealed in old interview)