From Farmer Son to Corporate Legend: The Inspiring Story Of Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran

From being born in a family of farmers, to becoming the chairman of the oldest and largest business house in the country sounds like a made-up story. Truth is, this has happened and this miracle was achieved by Natarajan Chandrasekaran. From being a TCS Intern to becoming Tata Sons Chairman, this is his inspiring life journey.

Inspiring Story of N Chandrasekaran| BCCL

Natarajan Chandrasekaran popularly known as the ¡®Marathon Man¡¯ has been one of the Padma Bhushan awardees this year. Chandrasekaran has been serving as the Chairman of the Board at Tata Sons since 2017.

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Who is Natarajan Chandrasekaran - The CEO of Tata Sons?

N Chandrasekaran was born into an agricultural family in the village of Mohanur in Tamil Nadu in 1963. Ending up working on the family¡¯s farm would have been the natural trajectory for N Chandrasekaran, but his love for computer programming took him towards a different fate.

Inspiring Story of N Chandrasekaran| BCCL

Chandrasekaran studied in a government school in the state before pursuing his bachelor¡¯s degree in Applied Sciences from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology.

Thereafter, he completed his Master of Computer Applications (MCA) from the Regional Engineering College in Tiruchirappalli.

After completing his engineering, Natarajan Chandrasekaran joined TCS as an intern and thereafter, over the next two decades, he climbed the stairs of success. TCS has consolidated its position as the largest private-sector employer and India¡¯s most valuable company.

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A journey from TCS intern to Tata Sons chairman

The 58-year-old who believed in the power of hard work joined TCS in 1987. In September 2007, he was co-opted on the TCS board and named the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company.

Inspiring Story of N Chandrasekaran| BCCL

With grit and determination, N Chandrasekaran rose through the ranks to become CEO in October 2009, he eventually succeeded S. Ramadorai as CEO and MD of TCS at the age of 46, becoming one of the youngest CEOs of the Tata group.

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Tata Sons under his leadership

Today, in the Indian market, TCS is the second largest valued company after Reliance Industries, which is valued at $205 billion as of September 15, according to a Business Insider report. TCS did cross the $200 billion mark in September 2021.

Inspiring Story of N Chandrasekaran| BCCL

His long career with the Tata Group earned him the name of ¡®Chandra¡¯ at the Bombay House, the headquarters of Tata Group in Mumbai.

In order to expand the company's business, he made several new experiments in management, moving away from the traditional rut. Under his guidance, the Tata Group repositioned itself in the aviation sector by acquiring erstwhile national carrier Air India.

Congratulations to our Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on receiving the #PadmaBhushan this #RepublicDay. He has been conferred with one of India's highest civilian honours for distinguished service of high order in the field of trade and industry. pic.twitter.com/vwzriBPEdx

¡ª Tata Group (@TataCompanies) January 26, 2022

A small-town boy who chose programming over ploughing the fields now stands as a Padma Bhushan along with stalwarts like Cyrus Poonawalla, Sundar Pichai among others.

Known as ¡®Marathon Man¡¯

Chandrasekaran is known as Marathon Man for his passion for long-distance running and completing marathons worldwide.

Inspiring Story of N Chandrasekharan | officechai.com

N Chandrasekaran has also held some prestigious posts like a member of the RBI board and even the chairman of NASSCOM. He has been an active part of India¡¯s bilateral forums with nations like the UK, USA, Japan among others.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran awards and achievements

Natarajan Chandrasekaran has been awarded many awards and honours given by business communities across the country and the world. N Chandrasekaran was also awarded CNN- IBN Indian of the Year 2014 in the business category. He was voted as the ¡®Best CEO¡¯ by the Institutional Investor's 2015 Annual All-Asia Executive Team rankings. Chandrasekaran won the 'Business Leader of the Year award' at the ET Corporate Excellence Awards 2016 in a ceremony held on December 17, 2016.

With leadership and hard work, N Chandrasekaran may inspire a lot of youngsters, who are able to withstand and tolerate any form of setback simply on their belief that they can reach their goals.