"Messiah For Poor": Newspaper Vendor Remembers His Time With Ratan Tata

But the death of his favourite customer who subscribed to no less than 14 newspapers makes him rethink which was the stronger blow: the pandemic, or the death of Ratan Tata.

Until Wednesday, 39-year-old Harikesh Singh thought the COVID-19 pandemic was the cruelest blow he had faced. His newspaper distribution business suffered badly after the lockdown, and there were long days of uncertainty.

But the death of his favourite customer who subscribed to no less than 14 newspapers makes him rethink which was the stronger blow: the pandemic, or the death of Ratan Tata.

"He was a very good man, a messiah for the poor," Mr Singh, who delivered newspapers for Tata for nearly two decades, told PTI.