Industrialist Ratan Tata, who passed away on October 9 at the age of 86, remained unmarried throughout his life. Despite his towering legacy in the world of business and philanthropy, Tata often opened up about the more personal aspects of his life, including his reflections on not having a wife or family. In a conversation with Simi Garewal on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, he shared that he did experience moments of loneliness due to this.
“There are many times that I feel lonely about not having a wife or a family, and sometimes I long for it,” Tata admitted. He explained that while he enjoyed the freedom of not having the concerns of someone else weighing on him, there were other moments when solitude felt overwhelming. “Sometimes I enjoy the freedom of not having to worry about the feelings of someone else or the concerns of someone else. On other times, it does get a little lonely,” Tata candidly expressed.
When Simi asked him what stopped him from getting married, Tata attributed it to various factors, including timing and his deep focus on work. “A whole series of things (stopped me from marrying) – timing, my absorption in work at the time. I came close to getting married sometimes, but it didn’t work out,” he explained.
Coincidentally, Simi Garewal herself once dated Ratan Tata, and she fondly remembered their bond. In a description shared on her YouTube channel, she wrote, “Ratan Tata was my first friend in Mumbai. We had both just returned from abroad into terra incognita; both at the threshold of an uncharted world. Despite his decades of success, Ratan’s humility and integrity never wavered.”
She continued, “For a man who stays clear from the flashbulb glare of fame, it was generous of Ratan to be my first guest on Rendezvous. My crew was floored by his lack of pretense. I remember he shook hands with each of them before leaving – in his Maruti!”
In the same episode, Ratan Tata spoke about people’s perception of him being “a recluse”. “I think I suffer from that. It comes from… You’re in the office all day, around a lot of people, a lot of telephone calls, and there’s some sense of serenity in having a departure from that. You remember when we first met many years ago, walking on the beach and so on was something I enjoyed. I still enjoy it. And there’s something in that solitude. A lot of thinking gets done, and a lot of unwinding gets done in that process too,” he told Simi.
When asked if he trusts people, Tata replied, “Yes, I think so. People may disagree, but I think I do.”
Ratan Tata’s passing leaves a profound void in India’s corporate and philanthropic landscape, but his legacy as a visionary leader and compassionate soul will endure.
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