Ratan Tata's Last Journey: An Emotional Shantanu Naidu Leads His Hearse on a Bicycle | On trend

Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata's close confidant and Tata Trust manager, led his hearse on a bicycle as the industrialist's body was taken to the NCPA in Mumbai for public viewing.

Billionaire tycoon and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Tata, died late on Wednesday evening at the age of 86 after a short illness.

In a video shared on social media, the 30-year-old, dressed all in white, can be seen riding his bicycle in front of the ambulance between several police vehicles escorting his hearse to the NCPA.

Check out the video here:

Naidu, who was also Tata's assistant, mourned the tycoon's loss in a post on LinkedIn published this morning.

The deeply personal touch reflected the unlikely friendship between the two men. (Also Read: Ratan Tata felt 'humiliated' by his classmates at Harvard University: 'Crossed out day after day')

“I will spend the rest of my life filling the void that this friendship has left in me.” Grief is the price of love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse,” he wrote, sharing a picture of the two of them.

An unlikely friendship

Naidu's unusual friendship with Ratan Tata began with their shared love of animals.

Naidu founded a small business called “Motopaws” that attached reflective collars to stray dogs to help drivers avoid hitting them on the road in the dark.

In 2014, Naidu, a fifth-generation Tata employee, wrote to the philanthropic billionaire asking for help with his initiative. To his surprise, Tata wrote back to him two months later and invited him to Mumbai to work for the Tata Group.

Naidu, like his mentor, moved to the US to pursue an MBA at Cornell University, but promised to return to India and work for Tata Trust.

Naidu kept his promise and accepted the offer to become Tata's assistant after completing his MBA and returning home.

In recent years, Tata has often been accompanied by Naidu during his rare public appearances. (Also Read: Ratan Tata almost got married four times: What the industrialist revealed in an old interview)