Ratan Tata, a business story or a love story? He was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist.
Ratan Tata attended Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program in 1975.
Ratan Tata has served in many capacities in different organizations, both in India and abroad. He was a member of the Prime Minister Council on Trade and Industry and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council.
He was on the jury panel of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered to be one of the world’s premier architecture prizes. Ratan Tata has also served on a Cornell University board of trustees.
He served as a director of Alcoa Inc., Mondelez International and Board of Governors of the East-West Centre. He was also a member of the board of trustees of the University of Southern California and, the Harvard Business School board of the Dean’s advisors. He has also served as a member of the board of the International Advisory Council at Bocconi University.
Most importantly, he was appointed to the board of trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an initiative by the legend himself, Andrew Carnegie.
He has invested in many start-ups throughout his life which reflects his determination and vision for young people. He was a huge supporter of education, medicine and rural development.
Fine Human Being
In 1984 during the anti-Sikh riots, Ratan Tata extended his support to the affected survivors by donating trucks from Tata Motors. This helped Sikh drivers who lost their vehicles during the riots to gain their livelihoods.
This gesture of his, helped many Sikhs to rebuild their lives and as a “Thank You” to Ratan Tata, drivers in Punjab and other parts of India remained loyal customers to Tata trucks.
Tata Trust donated US$70 million to UC San Diego in 2016 to establish the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), its purpose was to address the need for sustainable food resources, gene editing, stem cell therapy and disease control.
Love Story?
Ratan Tata never tied the knot and had no children, he said in an interview “I came close to getting married four times and each time I backed off in fear or for one reason or another. “
It has been reported that he fell in love with a lady while working in an architectural firm in Los Angeles. Ratan Tata was planning to settle in Los Angeles but came back to India for various reasons.
Their marriage did not happen, apparently, the girl’s parents were not comfortable for their daughter to be settled in India, partly because of the 1962 Indo-China war.
No one is really sure about the true identity of this lady with whom Ratan Tata fell in love but never got to marry.
So there is one Ratan Tata to the world, who was a successful businessman, who took his family empire to the next heights and also helped humanity in many many ways. Who was a public figure, always in the public eye and many claimed to know him.
But there was another Ratan Tata to whom we do not know, who had a love story.
For now, I would say Ratan Tata was a “very fine human being” who celebrated life on earth from December 28, 1937, to October 9, 2024.
On October 10, 2024, he was given a state funeral. His last rites were concluded at the Parsi crematorium at Worli. He was accorded with military and 21-gun salute during his final rites.
But the question remains, Ratan Tata, a Business story or a Love story?
Something I wonder.
Thanks for reading this article written by Jordan Zaman.