'I thought no worries, next time': Boston entrepreneur says she regrets not meeting Ratan Tata

For Boston-based entrepreneur Sneha Biswas, one email remains among the most treasured messages in her inbox.

In January 2020, while interning at Tata Steel and working closely with the then Managing Director and CEO T. V. Narendran, Biswas sent an email to industrialist and Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata. To her surprise, he not only read it but also replied.

What stayed with her was not just the response, but the fact that Tata took the time to acknowledge an intern.

"He didn't have to," Biswas wrote in a social media post. "Many leaders much younger than him don't bother responding to people they don't know."

At the time, Tata was 82 years old and received countless emails every day. Yet, according to Biswas, he still made the effort to read and respond because he genuinely cared about people.

The exchange led to something even more special. Tata's office later reached out to schedule a meeting with her. An aide informed her that Tata was looking forward to meeting her and asked for a suitable date.

But fate had other plans.

Biswas was already scheduled to fly back to Boston that very day. Believing there would be another opportunity in the future, she declined and left for the US.

"I thought, no worries, next time," she recalled.

That next time never came.

Over the following years, she remained in the United States and became deeply involved in building her own ventures. Before another meeting could happen, Ratan Tata passed away in 2024.

Today, Biswas often searches for "RNT" in her inbox and rereads his email. The message serves as a reminder of the humility, warmth and sincerity that defined Tata's leadership.

She says her biggest takeaway from the experience is simple: if she is ever fortunate enough to lead at even a fraction of Tata's level, she hopes to treat strangers with the same kindness and respect that he showed her.

Some regrets, she says, stay with you forever.