Ratan Tata’s guest remembers his Colaba house with ‘middle class furnishings’

Though he transformed the Tata Group into a global powerhouse, Ratan Tata is perhaps best remembered for his humility and down-to-earth charm. The chairman emeritus of Tata Group passed away on October 9 at the age of 86, leaving behind not just a business legacy but a personal one characterised by simplicity and integrity.
Ratan Tata has often been described as the epitome of “simple living, high thinking,” a sentiment echoed by Congress politician Gurdeep Singh Sappal, who shared a poignant memory of his meeting with the iconic leader.
Sappal recounted a visit to Tata’s home in Colaba, a posh neighborhood in Mumbai. He was surprised to see the mansion furnished modestly, calling it more reminiscent of a middle-class home.
Ratan Tata lived in his beachfront Colaba home, called Bakhtawar, till the end of his life. His mortal remains were brought to his house early this morning.
In his post on the social media platform X, Sappal said that in 2015, the former veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel asked him to arrange a meeting with Tata.
“It was decided that both will meet at Ratan Tata’s Colaba residence in Mumbai. Accordingly, Ahmed Patel ji and I reached his house as per schedule, a house with seemingly middle class furnishings!” Sappal recalled.
He observed an initial awkwardness between the two men, revealing they had never met personally before.
Sappal claims he was surprised to see that the two men had never met before. “I was aghast to know that it was their first ever personal meeting! The two had never met!” he wrote.

“One was the amongst the top corporates of India and the other was one of the most powerful persons during UPA years! Yet they hadn’t met!”
He called it an example of how Ratan Tata, despite his stature, never sought proximity to political power, and Ahmed Patel, despite his influence, never leveraged his position to force a meeting with corporate giants.
Several other social media users have shared stories of their encounters with Ratan Tata in the hours after his death, and everyone had something positive to say about the billionaire.
Former neighbours of Ratan Tata have revealed how he used to walk his dogs around Colaba every evening before his health declined.
Some X users remembered him as a “very down to earth and humble” person who would always stop to chat with kids in the neighbourhood. More than a few people said that Ratan Tata would make time to share a few words with anyone he saw.