I Came Upon a Lighthouse

An endearing portrait of an Indian legend

I told him that when I write a book, I would write about another side of him and not just historic events or business milestones. I would write about us and our adventures together, and how I saw him, colours and shades of him unknown to the world. Life beyond the great steel wall of 'industry doyen'.

He agreed. 'There cannot be one book that captures everything ... So you do your thing, give your perspective.'

It was their shared empathy for homeless dogs that sparked an unlikely friendship. In 2014, Shantanu Naidu, an automobile design engineer in his early twenties, developed an innovation to save the local strays from being run over by speeding cars. Ratan Tata, himself known for his compassion for stray dogs, took note. Impressed, he not only decided to invest in the venture but over the years became a mentor, boss and an unexpectedly dear friend to Shantanu.

I Came Upon a Lighthouse is an honest, light-hearted telling of this uncommon bond between a millennial and an octogenarian that gives glimpses of a beloved Indian icon in a warm light.

FROM COMPOSING MUSIC VIDEOS for social causes during his Tengineering days, Shantanu Naidu went on to establish himself in animal welfare with his video ‘Paws for a cause', which was his entry into the space. During his time as automotive design engineer at Tata Elxsi, he founded a start-up, Motopaws, to put reflective collars on India's stray dogs to prevent nighttime road accidents. Mr Ratan Tata became a primary investor in the venture.

After Shantanu's return to India from his MBA at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he spent time diving deep into entrepreneurship, he joined Mr Tata's office as Deputy General Manager, assisting him with day-to-day activities, including philanthropic initiatives, start-up proposals and social media.

During his time at Mr Tata's office, Shantanu found a huge gap in young students' understanding and fear of entrepreneurship and founded ‘On Your Sparks', an online entrepreneurship course teaching fundamentals through stories, the proceeds of which are used for animal welfare. He has also founded the ‘Cyber Aid Army', which helps victims of cybercrime technologically and through counselling, free of charge.

Shantanu spends most of his time with dogs and engaging students online, coming up with the next best idea or talking about his love for pina coladas and Mumbai.

THE PAGES OF THIS book are the result more of heart and story and less of artistic capability. It is my honest narration of what some of you might see as adventures, others as essays, and even more of you as a running journal, and all of you would be right.

Many of you will turn these pages to know about Mr Ratan Tata. And while I wish I could have done only that-to fully understand him from how I see him--this is a short memoir of my life where it overlaps his.

It took courage to bring these stories to you. To be able to put my life out there, to be seen and be vulnerable. But the purpose of writing them was to bring to you facets of someone who grew into so many roles: mentor, friend, a warm-hearted and wise guide. Facets unknown to the world that has revered him only as a beloved industrialist.

On the day he finished reading the manuscript, he wrote me a letter to say how touched he was to see these stories on paper. It is a letter I hold dear, especially for the lines where he also wrote about Mr J.R.D. Tata. "Jeh (as JRD was often called) used to enjoy embarrassing me, but it was our mutual love and affection for each other that grew exponentially. You have many attributes that I admire. You are like a son or younger brother, I enjoy being in your company.

My only hope for you is for these pages to leave your heart a little fuller, slightly richer, and to share what I have seen, just as I saw it.

As a celebration of the circumstances that brought us together, all author proceeds from this book will be used for the welfare of animals in need. For this, I thank you with all my heart.

**Contents and Sample Pages**