Cornell received a grant to lead a consortium to improve agricultural education in Indian universities.  

It has been over 50 years since Ratan Tata ’59 arrived at Cornell for freshman orientation, but on Friday, the chairman and CEO of the multinational conglomerate Tata Sons Ltd. told students and alumni that the event was still fresh in his mind.

“I was one of about 2,000 people and very frightened,” Tata reminisced. “They told us to look to your left, look to your right … One of you won’t be here in four years.”

This was only one of the things that Tata talked about in the annual Olin Lecture titled “Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century” during Reunion Week.

This Thanksgiving weekend people all over the world were transfixed by the violence taking place in Mumbai, India, as terrorists went on a 59-hour siege of the city. The attacks, which according to The Times of India, killed 183 people and wounded another 239 at 10 locations, lasted from Wednesday to Saturday. Most of the killings occurred at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. The Taj Hotel is owned by the Tata group, the chair of which is Ratan Tata ’62, who gave a $50 million endowment to Cornell in October.

The attacks have affected the lives of several Cornellians, including those from India and Pakistan and those planning to study abroad in the area.

It’s about time the world’s largest democracy got some attention around these parts.

Last month’s $50 million gift from a philanthropic fund largely controlled by mega-industrialist Ratan Tata ’62 will go a long way towards strengthening Cornell’s academic and human ties with India, and the half of the gift allocated to endow scholarships for Indians in need will do much to increase the economic diversity of the international student body. “Any person ... any study,” indeed.

It’s true that Cornell has been involved with India on issues like health and agriculture for more than 50 years. Last year, President David Skorton even visited. But of late, Old Uncle Ezra’s wandering eye has more often explored his infatuation with the world’s largest unfree state, China.