If I say I don’t know you from Adam,

that may not be true.

I may not have met you or know anything about you,

but I have heard of you, from you.

I don’t know personally any of the others who may know you or have interacted with you,

for me to hear any real-life experiences they may have had with you.

I have seen you, not face to face,

but on television and the newspaper.

Every time I have had the opportunity to see you,

the first thought that will occur each time and every time is, “What a handsome man!!”

When I have heard you speak and that also isn’t much that I have heard,

what would strike me is that you are a, “A man of substance.”

I don’t know what is it about you that resonated in me,

that implicitly connected in me.

When I heard the news of you passing on,

I could feel a tear or two welling in my eyes.

I don’t know why and neither want to analyse,

it is what it is, for whatever the reason maybe.

I don’t know if I have ever shed a tear for the passing on of someone I don’t know,

but for you, I did.

I did something that I have never done before, for anyone,

I searched for and watched some of the interviews, people had with you.

I don’t know why and neither want to analyse,

it is what it is, for whatever the reason maybe.

Some of what I heard you saying, struck a deep chord in me,

you certainly have made a difference in me, with your words,

Funny it may sound that I am talking to someone I neither have met or know,

such is the influence you, your words and the life you lived has – a constructive influence.

I am sure in the days to follow I will listen to more of what you have said,

but for now (and in verbatim):

– I would like to be remembered as a person who made a difference, not anything more not anything less
– To go to bed at night or wake up in the morning feeling that we have not sacrificed our principles
– Do not grow with the view that something can’t be done and so should not be done
– If you think you can’t make a difference, I would say you can make a difference, if you so desire
– Let humility be your best defence
– You shouldn’t merely consider yourself successful based on the prosperity you gain for yourself; but you should go home at night feeling satisfied if you have made a difference. That difference is something each one of us can make
– We will have failures and we will have frustrations but it’s a continued commitment to the world around us – to ourselves and to the people of India
– You get driven by some fire within yourself, you don’t necessarily know what it is
– People should do what they believe is the right thing to do.. however that’s also the most difficult thing and is the riskiest thing; but if they believe in something, they should pursue it and they should try to make a difference, a constructive difference.

Ratan Tata ji, taking a bow to you..

Indeed blessed to be living in the same period as you and to have the opportunity to learn from you!!!!