Ratan Tata became favourite customer of THIS Mumbai newspaper vendor due to...

Until Wednesday, 39-year-old Harikesh Singh thought the COVID-19 pandemic was the cruelest blow he had faced. His newspaper distribution business suffered badly after the lockdown, and there were long days of uncertainty.

But the death of his favourite customer who subscribed to no less than 14 newspapers makes him rethink which was the stronger blow: the pandemic, or the death of Ratan Tata.

"He was a very good man, a messiah for the poor," Singh, who delivered newspapers for Tata for nearly two decades, told PTI.

When his association with India's favourite industrialist started in 2001, Tata's address was an apartment in Colaba's Bakhtavar building. Later it shifted to Halekai, a private bungalow next to it.

Singh remembers the sight of Tata sitting in the garden of the bungalow in the mornings, reading the newspapers he had delivered, and the smiling face.

Tata would wave at him, and sometimes ask how he was doing. These brief exchanges are etched in his mind, Singh said.

Some years ago, when a relative was diagnosed with cancer, Tata immediately helped Singh with a letter to the Tata Memorial Centre for quick treatment, and also gave Rs 5 lakh.

But the pandemic changed the reading habits of Ratan Tata too. The household stopped taking newspapers, Singh said, adding that Tata started getting only two newspapers which came in a paper bag from the nearby Tata Group-run Taj Mahal Hotel.

On Thursday, Singh finished his newspaper deliveries a bit early and joined hundreds of others who lined up in the Colaba bylane to bid final farewell to the most illustrious person in the neighbourhood.

Hussain Shaikh, 57, was in the same crowd. He had come all the way from the distant suburb of Andheri.

Shaikh used to occasionally clean Tata's favourite Mercedes Benz for years. When his daughter got married, Tata gave him Rs 50,000 through a staff member in the house.

Hussain used to work at the nearby President House from 1993 where he got the chance to work for the Tatas.

The last time he met Tata was 15 years ago, he said, and added that every person in the crowd has his or her own personal connection with Tata that made them travel on a workday to pay their last respects.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)