Memories Of Ratan Tata’s Flying Visit To Indore Will Last A Lifetime

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): We Indorians are very keen to be No 1 in all aspects and Sanghi Brothers of the city was the first dealership of Tata Motors in the country which now has showrooms in many cities. Ratan Tata’s visit to Indore was only for a few hours, decades ago, but now it has become a memory that will last for time immemorial.

On the request of Sharad Sanghi, a well-known name in the automobile world, Ratan Tata himself came to inaugurate Sanghi Brothers' Lasudiya showroom on November 25 1996. He came to Indore for just a few hours and left a different impression due to his simplicity and his easy-going style with the employees.

At that time, Ratan Tata came to Tata Export Company in Dewas. Sanghi Motors had a big showroom and service centre in Lasudiya area. He expressed his desire to see it and also visited the showroom located at Manoramaganj for fifteen minutes, said former Sanghi Motors senior employee Narayan Sumrani.

“Seeing his sudden visit, Sanghi Motors management organised an informal programme to hand over certificates to those four officers and employees who had been in the showroom for more than 25 years,” at the hands of Ratan Tata he said. Narayan Sumrani who himself was one of the recipients said, “when Ratan Tata Sir gave us the certificates, I asked him for his signature on the certificate but there was only the name of Sanghi Sir so he took the certificate overturned it and gave a signature beside it along with a message.”

Sumarani said that one of his collegues wanted to get Ratan ji's autograph and offered him a tissue. So he signed on the tissue paper and gave it to him. Ratan Tata who himself was an architect, asked about the architecture of the showroom in detail. He took many details from the load capacity of the lift to the interiors from the architect and praised the showroom.

“In another memory, during one conference in Pune, there was a queue for food along the food counters and we saw that Ratan Ji was also following the queue and standing in between us. We asked him to step ahead but he told us that he will follow the queue. This shows his humbleness and simplicity. He was a great personality,” he added.