NEW DELHI: The late Ratan Tata once took up art to raise money for charity and the painting has a place of honor in the lobby of the iconic Mumbai Taj Mahal Palace. The year was 2006 and paintings were to be auctioned that were said to be the result of a collaboration between a famous Indian business personality, sportsperson or actor, and an acclaimed painter.
“Ratan Tata had a great relationship with painter for decades Lakshman Shrestha and the two worked together. According to the painter, Tata had approached him asking when he should use his one brushstroke as his contribution to the painting,” experts said.
Shreshta, however, insisted that Tata had to spend “a significant amount of time and effort” to jointly complete the painting. “Tata worked nine hours a day for a few days to complete this masterpiece. During this time, Shreshta also taught him the different brushstrokes of painting. Hidden in this painting is one stroke that was done solely by Tata himself and is therefore affectionately called ‘The Tata Stroke’,” they add.
Ultimately, some ‘extraordinary prizes’ were collected for charity during the event. The value of this painting was approximately Rs 75 Lakh. Taj Mahal Palace has several priceless paintings, including by MF Hussain in the reception area.