My wife, Sudha, a vociferous and loyal admirer of JRD, and I form a strong fan club of Ratan. Every meeting I have had with him makes me leave the meeting wishing that he lives very long and that there will be more people like him in the country. His achievements in business are well documented. Let me talk about a few personal anecdotes that bring out his courtesy, decency and humility. I have recounted many of these in other articles of mine on Ratan, perhaps using the same words.Most recently, I spent considerable time with him when he accepted my request to spend a full day in Hubli participating in various functions of Development Dialogue, an annual programme bringing Deshpande Foundation-supported NGOs and several important people working in NGOs to improve the lives of the poor. Deshpande Foundation was founded by my co-brother, Dr Gururaj (Desh) Deshpande, and his wife, Jaishree (my wife Sudha’s sister). This was Ratan’s first public function after he stepped down from the office. Right from the moment he landed in Hubli, he immersed himself fully in interacting with various people connected with Deshpande Foundation.The Ratan that I know of came into full force: competent, humble, courteous, curious, concerned, patriotic and decent. On rare occasions when he disagreed, he was not disagreeable. Whether he was speaking to an admiring teenager of which there were zillions at Hubli or to a much-respected Dr Deshpande, his sincerity, depth of knowledge, intense patriotism and his legendary courtesy shone through effortlessly.We took him to the fully-automated kitchen of Akshayapatra at Hubli. Sudha, who had financed the kitchen, Desh and Swami Chanchalapatidasa gave a detailed description of how they produce about 2,00,000 lunches everyday and deliver them to over 1,000 schools — hot, nutritious and clean. Ratan was all attention and had lots of questions. Next day, he addressed a record crowd of youngsters and thrilled them with his ideas, sincerity and his patriotism. His dream for India came across very clearly in his answers to the questions on the future of India.That evening when we had some private time, he spoke about the zero-gravity ride he was to take the following week in California. He was like a teenager in his enthusiasm and excitement. I was amazed at his energy level and daring even at 75 years of age. He also spoke about the tragedy of India with around 400 million people still subsisting on barely Rs 35 a day.The second incident was in 2004 when I invited him to inaugurate our Management Council room named after Jamsetji Tata. We had built Asia’s most advanced corporate conference room with a seating capacity of 140 people and leading-edge technology including capability to do a 24-location videoconference using a huge video wall. Our discussion on the guest to inaugurate this hall ended up in a quick and unanimous choice in Ratan.Even though TCS was our competitor, my colleagues felt that naming our most advanced conference room after the first businessperson from India would be proper, and that getting it inaugurated by the finest business leader of contemporary India would be most appropriate. He agreed to come but requested us to keep the ceremony short and asked whether he could skip his speech. We finally agreed on a short speech. He came, spent a couple of hours with us, had lunch with young Infoscions, and spoke about the importance of global benchmarking for Indian companies. My colleagues were very impressed with his deep knowledge, courtesy, decency and humility.Whenever I have requested him for a favour, he has gone out of his way to respond favourably. He agreed to my request to accept the invitation of Hunter Rawlings, the legendary president of Cornell, and joined the board of trustees of his alma mater. He was very kind to suggest my name as his successor on the Ford Foundation board.A few years ago, I thought of an idea to improve public governance and circulated my idea to about 100 business people, media people, civil society leaders and academicians. Only two people replied: Ratan and Rahul Bajaj, both confident and decent businessmen-citizens. Ratan asked several questions and was enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the idea did not take off since 99 per cent of the people I contacted were scared that the government may retaliate against them if this idea was pursued. But what was impressive about Ratan was his courage and concern in doing what was good for the country.We, in India, have to learn several lessons from him. He has shown that powerful leaders conduct themselves with confidence, courtesy, dignity and humility with everybody in every transaction. He is one of the finest role models for every Indian, not just businessmen. His patriotism is evident in the anguish on his face when he discusses the ills of India. His optimism is evident in the twinkle in his eyes when he talks about the potential of India. He will always remain a great role model for me. Let God give him a long, healthy, happy and prosperous life. Let there be more Ratans so that India can shine like a diamond.(The writer is chairman emeritus, Infosys)