How Ratan Tata defended a young lady from cyberbullying on Instagram

Since the time Ratan Tata joined the ‘Gram’ (as he says so in his Instagram bio), the social media platform saw one million followers following the major business tycoon.  

The Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons was once again hailed for his genuine humility when he defended a young lady who was bullied on the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform for her comment on his latest Instagram story.

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The lady in question commented “Congratulations Chottu” on Tata’s latest Instagram post, where he is seen sitting cross-legged on the floor.

His post read: “I’ve just seen that the number of people on this page has reached a milestone. This wonderful online family is not what I expected when I joined Instagram, and I have you to thank for it. I do believe that the quality of connections you make in this age of the internet is far greater than any number. Being a part of your community and learning from you is truly exciting, and makes me very happy and I hope our journey together continues.”

Tata’s latest post has about five lakh likes and several hundreds of replies. But among them, this one particular user received a barrage of criticism when many of Tata’s followers called her ‘disrespectful’ and ‘shameful’, resulting in her deleting the comment.  

To everyone’s amaze, the industrialist rose to the defence of the user saying, “There is a child in each of us. Please treat this young lady with respect.” He wrote the following with a smiley face in the end.

Later on, Tata posted a series of stories on the incident, each revealing his personality. “A very innocent young lady expressed her heartfelt sentiments yesterday and called me a ‘kid’ in one of her comments”, followed by she was “bullied and disrespected” for her comment, and that he appreciated her “heartfelt note.”

In his final story, posted nine hours back at the time of publishing, Tata gently told the lady not to refrain from posting again.

“I appreciate and respect the heartfelt note that the young lady had left me, and hope she will not refrain from posting again.”

Cyberbullying has become a part and parcel in this social media era. However, this case of cyberbullying on Ratan Tata’s post revealed the business tycoon’s sophistication and subtle sense of humour. Tata, neither took an offence to the remark of “Chhotu”, nor did he remain silent when the young lady was being cyberbullied.

Ratan Tata has been breaking the internet ever since he joined Instagram in October last year. To date, Tata has posted 17 pictures on his page, each revealing his multi-dimensional personality which includes a throwback picture of his younger days in the US, a photo of his pet dog, and a picture of him getting into the cockpit of an F18 fighter aircraft. The list goes on.

Rapport with his grandmother

In another post by the Official Humans of Bombay on Instagram, Ratan Tata spoke fondly of his grandmother, sharing beautiful memories with her. Growing up, he says that his grandmother, Lady Navajbai Tata, has inspired him and his younger brother.

In a three-part post, Tata said, “I had a happy childhood, but as my brother & I got older, we faced a fair bit of ragging and personal discomfort because of our parent’s divorce, which in those days, wasn’t as common. But my grandmother brought us up in every way. Soon after when my mother remarried, the boys at school started saying all kinds of things about us – constantly and aggressively. But our grandmother taught us to retain dignity at all costs, a value that’s stayed with me until today.”

Earlier, in an exclusive interview with YourStory’s Shradha Sharma, he spoke fondly about his grandmother, revealing that both Tata and his younger brother, Jimmy, were brought up by their grandmother in a baroque manor called Tata Palace in Mumbai, then Bombay.

“I owe a great deal to my grandmother who brought up my brother and me. She instilled in us what she considered to be proper. And I think that has had a very profound influence on me and my value systems,” Ratan Tata told YourStory.

(Edited by Suman Singh)