Shantanu Naidu- India’s “Good Fellow!”

 
✪ Inspirational interview of Shantanu Naidu

✪ It is unfortunate to give an award for reading initiative

✪ "Please don't ask about Ratan Tata!"

✪ Mumbai bookies- An initiative to read with nature

✪ Easy to donate books, but difficult to cultivate habit of reading

✪ Good fellows India – We give grand children on rent! Need of the hour

✪ Ratan Tata is "Dumbledore" for me!

✪ Mother is a teacher, but rather teacher in the home and mother in the school

✪ Mother says, better if you get a Marathi girl!


Hello. Some days ago, I came across an interview of Shantanu Naidu, General Manager, Tata Motors. In Lokmat Literature Awards programme, he was awarded for his reading initiatives and for “Mumbai bookies”. Shantanu Naidu! Young friend of honourable Ratan Tata! But little did I know that this Shantanu was this great. He studied in Pune. His mother cultivated habit of reading for him. She also cultivated habit of loving animals. And later on due to his love for dogs, he came in contact with Ratan Tata.

In this interview, his first statement was, “Don’t ask me anything about Ratan Tata!” He went on to say that it is actually not good that an award is needed to be given for reading! Through the course of this interview, he fluently expressed himself in Marathi. True great persons are always humble and down to earth! It was a great joy to listen to him.

This article can be listened on spotify. 

Shantanu and his friends started "Bookies" club (Not “that kind of bookies”) with an objective of cultivating reading habit in the younger generation and to share joy of reading with them. Now it is being expanded in many cities of India. Basically it Is collective reading in gardens on weekends! Shantanu shares that peace in the nature greatly helps for reading. There is no rule, but no one uses mobile there. Everyone is just lost in reading. Later on they display all the books that are read there so that everyone knows what they have read. Later this initiative was expanded in other schools and localities. Books were given to those children who did not have books. They even started libraries where there was no space to keep the books. Shantanu tells us that they got 8000 books in a donation in a week. But he adds, it is easier to donate the books, but difficult to cultivate passion of reading! Shantanu also tells us that an important aspect of reading is that it stimulates thinking. Everyone has so much time for social media, then why not for the books, he bluntly asks.

Shantanu is such a wonderful guy! He and his friends also had started a very unique initiative- Good fellows India. Its objective was this- To give grandchildren on rent to grand parents who are alone! It is a support for those senior citizens whose children do not stay with them. This is also the need of the hour, he says. He gives cred of this sensitivity to his mother. He tells that she teaches in a Corporation school in Pune. But she was actually the teacher in the house and the mother in the school, rather!

When we look at Shantanu and his energy, we cannot believe he is actually 33! His age, his face and his works- nothing matches! His mother says that if he finds a Marathi girl, it would be good! Marathi girls can surely try! In this interview, he has not talked about Ratan Tata. But in his book, he has written that "Ratan Tata is a lighthouse." That book must be worth reading! He regards Ratan Tata as “Dumbledore!” His interview is worth listening! And what he is telling, is worth listening and following!

(Thanks for reading. You can share with your near ones. On my blog, there are articles related to social initiatives, fitness, trekking, cycling, running, meditation, sky watching etc. Niranjan Welankar 09422108376. Date of writing the article: 8 April 2025.