At a dialogue session held at SMU under its India Initiatives, Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata group shared his experiences and philosophies, and imparted his knowledge to SMU students. Mr Tata said that one of the sacrifices he had made was losing his anonymity, “If I’m walking on the beach, I usually get stopped by someone asking for a job or complaining about his Tata product. And with that comes a defence mechanism.” SMU Provost and Deputy President (Academic Affairs) Professor Rajendra Srivastava said in his opening address, that Mr Tata had guided the Tata Group over the last two decades with an annual growth rate of over 20 percent “Much of this growth has come in from previously unchartered territories and uncertain paths, away from heavy manufacturing into emerging services sectors such as hospitality software, consultancy and telecommunications and from largely India-centric businesses into a global concern with a footprint across 85 countries”.