'Still can't accept that I will never see him smile again', says Ratan Tata's closest friend Shantanu Naidu

Ratan Tata’s passing at the age of 86 has left millions of Indians mourning the loss of a man who profoundly shaped their lives and the nation.

For those who had the privilege of knowing him personally, the grief runs even deeper.

Shantanu Naidu, Tata's closest friend, in a LinkedIn post, said he is still "coming to terms with the fact that I will never see him smile again, or get to make him smile."

"Over the last 3 days, strangers from across the country have sent messages full of so much care, as if you and I are family for years. Every time I thought grief would swallow, there would be a message or a gesture from one of you that would bolster me a little bit," he wrote.

Naidu also shared a photo of Mumbai policemen hugging him and said it "held the comfort of the whole city in it".

Following the demise of Ratan Tata, Naidu expressed his sorrow on LinkedIn, writing: “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.”