"Anything you do...": What Shantanu Naidu is building after Ratan Tata’s passing

Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata’s trusted aide and confidant, is charting a new path with his passion project, Bookies, a silent reading initiative aimed at reviving the joy of reading in a digitally distracted world. Naidu, deeply influenced by Tata’s mentorship, is now taking his mission to Jaipur, marking the latest expansion of the movement he started in Mumbai.

Announcing the Jaipur launch on LinkedIn, Naidu expressed his enthusiasm: “Jaipur, it’s time. We will see you on Sunday the 8th at Jaipur Bookies. Sign up for the launch below. So excited!” The event, scheduled for December 8, invites readers to gather and immerse themselves in collective silent reading.

Bookies has already gained traction in Pune and Bengaluru, with Naidu planning to expand to Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Surat. At a recent session in Bengaluru, Naidu shared his thoughts on the project’s purpose: “Bookies has always been about bringing back reading. It seems that reading is very central to the human experience, and it's just gone back into the background.” Highlighting today’s shrinking attention spans, he noted, “We used to watch three-minute Reels. We can't even do 1:30-minutes anymore.”

“Anything you do as a sense of community has a much larger push that makes you form a habit quicker as compared to you doing it yourself,” Naidu added.

Naidu’s dedication to Bookies reflects the values he absorbed during his time with Tata. Their unique friendship left an indelible mark, with Tata naming Naidu in his will and supporting his companionship startup, Goodfellows, by waiving his education loans and relinquishing his stake.

After Tata’s passing in October, Naidu shared an emotional tribute: “The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill. Grief is the price to pay for love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse.”