Something about Tata

A fan club for an incredibly low-profile and selfconfessed introvert may seem as improbable as the US President winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but then even that's happened now. A fan club is also embarrassing for the 53-year-old Tata ("if it flatters, that's the end of me," he quips), who defies the image of the conventional corporate honcho in pinstripes. For starters, he avoids suits, blazers and even ties (he reluctantly agrees to knot one for photographs for BT, even as he lets on that he's more at ease in half sleeves).
Then, he shuns the CEO cocktail circuit, is quick with his "regrets" on RSVPs to corporate dos, is usually last-in-firstout at any group shindig that calls for the presence of Tata company CEOs (like the launch of the Tata Nano car, for instance)-and, best of all, for a head of a close to Rs 1,000-crore company, he's refreshingly downto-earth. Those who know him well say he is happy to stay at company guest houses when on office tour and, according to one friend, "he will always look to spend less if it is possible."