Shantanu Naidu, the manager and confidant of Ratan Tata, has embarked on a fresh chapter of his life after the billionaire-philanthropist’s death. Mr Naidu is now expanding his passion project, Bookies, which is aimed at rekindling the joy of reading among people.

The project, which began in Mumbai, has already made its mark in Pune and Bengaluru and is now set to debut in Jaipur. Mr Naidu recently announced the launch of Jaipur Bookies, inviting book enthusiasts in the city to join the reading event on December 8. On LinkedIn, Mr Naidu expressed his excitement, saying, “Jaipur, it’s time. We will see you on Sunday the 8th at Jaipur Bookies. Sign up for the launch below. SO EXCITED!!!!” A sign-up form was shared for those wishing to participate.

Mr Naidu wishes to expand Bookies to more cities, with Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Surat next on his list. Last month, he hosted a gathering in Bengaluru.

During one of the Bookies sessions, Mr Naidu remarked on the significance of reading in today’s fast-paced world: “Bookies have always been to bring back reading. It seems that reading is very central to the human experience. And it’s just gone back into the background.” He contrasted this with the modern attention span, adding, “We used to watch three-minute Reels. We can’t even do 1:30-minutes (of video) anymore.”

The young entrepreneur’s dedication to the project reflects the mentorship and values he received from Ratan Tata. The late industrialist’s will underscored their unique friendship, with Mr Tata naming Mr Naidu as a recipient and supporting his start-up venture, Goodfellows, by relinquishing his stake in it and clearing Mr Naidu’s education loans, according to The Times of India.

After Mr Tata’s death, Mr Naidu shared a tribute, saying, “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 accompanied the note with a photograph of the two.

Delhi:

Shantanu Naidu, the general manager at former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata’s office, penned an emotional post to bid goodbye to his “dear lighthouse”. His post came after the 86-year-old industrialist died on Wednesday, leaving an over two-decade-long legacy of helming a wide variety of verticals within the Tata Group.

Mr Naidu, an MBA from Cornell University and founder of the Goodfellows startup, wrote in a post on LinkedIn, “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.”

The 28-year-old is the fifth generation of his family to work in the Tata Group. Mr Naidu was seen riding out of Tata’s house on a Yezdi motorcycle this morning, leading the truck carrying his boss’ mortal remains. It was the mutual love and concern for dogs which had formed a bond between the duo. 

Meanwhile, Mr Tata’s remains were taken to the National Centre of Performing Arts in Mumbai, from where they will be taken to a crematorium in Worli where he will be accorded a state funeral.

Born in Bombay, now Mumbai, in 1937, the Cornell University-educated Mr Tata was known for his willingness to take risks.

He took over the family empire in 1991, riding the wave of the radical free-market reforms that the Indian government unleashed that year. His years in charge saw the salt-to-steel conglomerate expand its global footprint to include British luxury brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover.

The industrialist later devoted his time to running the group’s charitable arm and funding some of India’s hottest start-ups.