Random Musings - August 2026

A Hot Air Baloon in California I saw - which had the Indian flag amongst various others - Happy 80th Independence day

The Tata Imbroglio:

Ever since Noel Tata took over as the Chairman of the Tata Trusts in October 2024, not a day has passed without some controversy and unseemly fights breaking out. From day one Noel Tata has ensured the purge of every older member who are considered “loyal” to the Late Ratan Tata. To be fair, all board members have played a role in the political fracas over appointments, and none can claim to be untainted in this mudslinging. Logically when a person is dead, the still alive folks cannot demonstrate personal loyalty to be viewed with suspicion. Further all the names involved are of high reputation with some having their own business groups, and to question their loyalty to the Group/Trust sounds crazy. The roster of names who have been purged in the last 2 years is 7 as below.

1. N Chandrashekar
2. Ajay Piramal
3. Vijay Singh
4. Ralph Speth
5. Mehli Mistry
6. Venu Srinivasan
7. Pramit Jhaveri

The various trusts and their boards look as below and the above names need to be deleted from that list. Two trusts marked X are the key to the future of Tata Sons as they hold around 66% of the shares.

A quick look indicates that Noel Tata now seems to control not just the key trusts but also most others with his children on the boards. With the resignations of many, Noel Tata & family literally "own" some of the trusts till others get appointed.

I had earlier written about the tussles within the Tata Group and here are the links to those.

Tata Group tussles - Part 1

Tata Group tussles - Part 2

Tata Group tussles - Part 3

The height of imbecility is the Maharashtra Government Charity commissioner whether non Parsis can hold a position in a Parsi community trust. Bringing caste/religion into this discussion now is stupefying. Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh became Vice Chairmen in 2018 and for 8 years this wasn’t an issue? That someone is instigating the Govt to do such things is obvious.

When I earlier spoke about a palace coup, it sounded like a conspiracy but this statement indicates that others are also saying the same. The context may be different but the whispers are the same.

With the resignation of Chandrashekar, curtains come down on the first act of this drama and Noel Tata has won. He has managed to bring his son Neville into the Tata Trust board, now commands the loyalty of the majority which means his choice would become the Chairman of Tata Sons. That so many are expressing surprise at the resignation of Chandra is bizarre. The writing was on the wall since months. It was never a question of if, only when. Whether a 6 month notice period was a factor we don’t know.

Nobody is indispensable. But this whole fracas seems avoidable. Fact is that the SP group has been profligate as I did write in an earlier blog. If Noel Tata is their Son-inlaw, Mehli Mistry is the first cousin of the Mistry family. Publicly Mehli Mistry and Ratan Tata earlier have been together in their fight with the Mistry/ SP group as related to the demand for a bailout. This imbroglio will likely leave a bad taste all around within the Tata group even if resolved.

Only time will what the future holds. But one thing is certain – SP Group will get a bail out in some form or other. Whatever the bail out, whatever is the spin that commentators would give, this entire fracas has been prompted by just one issue – financial support to the SP group which is in the dog house – initiated immediately after the demise of Ratan Tata. The challenge is doing this without killing the Tata group, its ethos, its heritage and future.

• The SP group has debt of around 8 Billion dollars and their stake in Tata Sons is worth about 36 Billion dollars.
• Monetising in public the Tata Sons shares can mean that outsiders gain entry, can start changing the DNA. Rules demand a minimum of 25%. This means that even if SP group sells its entire stake of 18%, the Trusts must offload another 7%.
• Why would SP group offload their entire stake? Their debt is 8 Billion, say they want 12 billion and even then, they need to offload just 6% of their stake and still retain the balance 12% for their future profligacy in business. This means the trusts must offload 19% of their stake.
• The Tata group debt across various business is about 40 Billion dollars. Trying to add 8 Billion or increasing debt by 20%, to bail the SP group will also kill the Tata group.
• One idea that has been floated is to allot shares in various publicly listed Tata group companies in a swap arrangement with the SP group which then gives them instant liquidity. To me this looks more sensible since the value of the shareholding of Tata sons in the various group companies is said to be around 150 Billion dollars.

Yet a solution has eluded a group involving their own family for over 10 years. There must be a reason for this – which we don’t know. Is it that the SP group was making unreasonable demands? Possible. Did they try to play games when their own was the Chairman? I at least think so. Did all this harden the attitude of Rata Tata towards them? Seems very likely. Are they now demanding instant resolution from their son-inlaw? Again, very likely.

Time will give the answers – but this debt and bailout of the SP group, THAT is the elephant in the room. The solutions being demanded and resisted by one section of the various boards is what we don’t know about yet. Like they say – picture abhi baaki hain (The Movie isn’t over yet). But the expiry date is January 2028 when the debt laden chickens of the SP group will come home to roost. That’s the target Noel Tata has before which to decide and implement a solution.

Whatever the solution arrived at, the Tata group will change in character and form for a long time to come.

Politically Convenient Protests:

Any and every protest seems to be either a political strategy or hijacked by politics and once the REAL intent of the politicians is achieved, they quickly abandon the cause. The protestors who chased the STATED intent invariably go back home chastened and disillusioned. This is not a cynical view, but the anatomy of protests which rarely culminate in a solution-based effort. The moment one talks of the REAL intent (which to be honest can never be proven) it is judged with a political colour. But the STATED intent at least can be verified and judged.

In recent memory the India Against Corruption movement with Anna Hazare as the face kicked off in 2011 (with the next Lok Sabha elections in 2014) and had Arvind Kejriwal as the public face. The support he obtained was huge and understandably so given the cause and reasons behind it. The entire movement was against the Congress govt. Even I participated in Freedom Park & jumped around late into the night. The movement constantly spoke about a tough anti corruption bill/law – The Jan Lokpal.

Soon I started asking questions about the vision, strategy, direction, action plan & then found there were none. The whole movement to me looked like a sham just to bring one man into the political stage -Arvind Kejriwal. Rumour was that Rahul Gandhi & team wanted a non-Congress new face to counter their corruption & other scams. Arvind Kejriwal was the puppet, but it seems the puppet had other plans of his own. People scoffed at these rumours, but what happened next was telling.

First, Arvind Kejriwal maintained they would not form a political party, promised not to contest elections or hold any post. He said, “I will never fight elections in my life. And I don’t want to hold any post in my life. I have no political ambitions.”. Then promptly did both in 2013.

• Then he said, “Main apne bachchon ki kasam khata hoon (I swear on my children), we will not support either BJP or Congress because people will vote against them. BJP and Congress can form the government together because as it is, the two are together behind the stage.”. Then promptly formed the Government in Delhi with the support of Congress within 24 hrs.
• If history is to be invoked related to real intent – in the last 13 years never once has Kejriwal shown even the slightest diplomacy towards BJP/Modi and instead hugged and stayed with Congress, RJD (Lalloo Prasad) and others who were the one’s in power between 2004 and 2014 and against who the IAC movement was launched.

• When the 2014 election was announced logic dictated that he contest against the Congress if not the Sonia Gandhi/ Rahul Gandhi duo. Instead, he decided that Narendra Modi was the enemy and went hammer and tongs at him in Varanasi.
• Since winning a landslide majority in 2014, he declared no VIP car, no bungalow and within a month quietly reversed both to finally end up in an opulent bungalow. To be honest, I would not grudge him a bungalow, cars etc as a CM, and even if I were to be a CM I would unapologetically utilise/ enjoy the perks of the office – but there was no need to promise the opposite.

• After having accused the Late Mrs Sheila Dikshit of corruption, waving sheafs of paper, he finally asked the BJP to give him proof so he can act.

• The biggest comedy in this whole drama over 13 years has been that Congress claims AAP/BJP are closet buddies, BJP claims that Congress/AAP are closet buddies while AAP claims that BJP/Congress are closet buddies. Photos over 13 years however tell a different story. My question is – are people, especially the educated, urban crowd certifiably stupid to believe such claims or can they see the truth in front of them?
• In between he made a half hearted attempt to introduce the JanLokPal law and then quietly abandoned it by blaming the BJP/Modi govt. It is now 13 years and for many years now, he has not even uttered the word JanLokPal. No attempt for any such law even in Punjab where AAP is in power. Even the existing LokPal doesnt have a Chief appointed.
• If this doesn’t demonstrate the fact that the stated intent was blatant falsehood, then nothing else can. As regards the real intent, nobody can prove anything, but the claims in 2013 about AAP being a creation of Congress seems to have a ring of truth to it.

That the Cockroach Janata Party protests started in 2026 (with next Lok Sabha elections in 2029) is NOT a coincidence. Whether Abhijeet Dipke will be the next Arvind Kejriwal is a question. Whether the CJP/ Dipke are being propped up as a proxy by Rahul Gandhi or Arvind Kejriwal or both is again a question that will get answered by early 2029 when elections are announced. Never believe in coincidences. Read and analyse history.

I have no hesitation in confessing that in 2012, at Freedom Park, with the IAC crowd, I was the performing monkey. But within a short time realised this and walked away to not stay a monkey.

A Letter from AAP

1. The lesson here is that all politicians make a monkey out of us. Perform as you wish but never think you are NOT a monkey. That is certifiable stupidity.
2. Participating in protests because the messaging is relevant is fine, but to believe what you hear as gospel truth is again certifiable stupidity.
3. In any protest, it is important to scratch the surface, do your own research and then decide if the protest deserves your support. Always look for the REAL intent behind the STATED intent.
4. Finally, be it a public issue or private issue always remember the old adage - "Trust but verify".

Following these simple rules will not stop you from becoming a monkey - but at least you will know you are being used as a monkey.