This was Ratan Tata's advice to Cyrus Mistry – four years ago

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Almost four years ago, Tata Sons appointed Cyrus Mistry as the successor of Ratan Tata, who was to retired on December 28, 2012, when he turned 75.

Then, Tata expressed confidence that Mistry had the capacity and ability to lead the group and face the challenges in years to come.

"I feel confident that Cyrus has the capacity and the ability to lead this group in the years to come and face the challenges," Tata had said.

However, in a shocking move, the Board of Tata Sons on Monday sacked Cyrus Misty as the chairman of the company, just two months short of four years since his appointment.

When appointed as the successor, Ratan Tata had adviced Cyrus Mistry to be his own man.

Be your own man, Ratan Tata has advised Cyrus Mistry.

"I don't think it is right to have a ghost to shadow over somebody," Tata said then, dismissing any notion that his larger-than-life persona would linger even after he retires on December 28 when he turns 75.

The Tata patriarch told Mistry, 31 years younger, "you should be your own person, you should take your own call and you should decide what you want to".

Asked if he had passed on a success mantra to Mistry, Tata replied, "No, I told him the same things that I told myself when JRD (late J R D Tata) handed over the mantle to me. The first reaction of anybody is to be Mr J R D Tata because you are filling his shoes.

"I instantly told myself, 'I can never do that'. I will never be him much as I try to imitate him. So I took a decision to be myself and to do what I thought was the right thing. I told Cyrus the same thing," he said.

During the transition, Mistry had asked him from time to time, 'is this ok, that ok'. He had responded by telling him that he should look at things as "if I were not there because you should be your own person".

He had told Mistry, "if you want my inputs I will give it to you but be your own man and be yourself and just be driven by the fact that every act you do and every move you make has to stand the test of public scrutiny".