Biographer Reveals Unheard Details About Ratan Tata And His Girlfriend Carolyn’s Relationship

Ratan Tata is celebrated not only as a visionary industrialist but also as a deeply compassionate human being. Known for his philanthropy and unwavering dedication to societal upliftment, he chose to remain unmarried, a fact that has intrigued many. According to his biographer, Thomas Mathew, Tata once had an American girlfriend he wished to marry but this wish could not come true.

Biography Thomas Mathew revealed that Ratan Tata fell in love with Carolyn Emmons

In a recent interview with Journalist Barkha Dutt on Mojo, former IAS officer and Ratan Tata’s biographer, Thomas Mathew, who recently published a book ‘Ratan Tata: A Life’ shared an intimate look into Tata’s life. He talked about how Tata’s love story began in the early 1960s with a woman whose maiden name was Carolyn Emmons.

Mathew recounted how,

“In 1962, Ratan passed out of Cornell University (in architecture) with flying colours…There was this gentleman called Archibald Quincy Jones. He was one of this external invigilators of Ratan. So, before Ratan left or at least planned to leave the US after graduation in 1962—you know, the polite man that he is—he picked up the phone to thank Archibald Jones. He (Jones) told him (Ratan) that in case he was coming to Los Angeles to see him (Jones).”

Ratan went on to meet him with his thesis. Impressed by Tata’s talent, Jones offered him a job that led Tata to change his plans of returning to India. This stay in America brought him into contact with Carolyn Emmons.

Carolyn’s father, Emmons, a partner in Jones’ architectural firm, introduced her to Tata, sparking an unforgettable connection between them. According to Mathew,

“When her father introduced her to Ratan, she said she couldn’t utter a word as she looked at Ratan. She was completely speechless and then started an amazing love story.”

According to Mathew, Carolyn regretted not having come to India later

Ratan Tata had to return to India in 1962 due to family issues. Mathew shares how around this time his beloved grandmother, Lady Navajbai Tata, whom he used to call ‘My G’, fell ill, and though she never explicitly requested his return, Tata’s deep attachment to her pulled him back to India.

His girlfriend Carolyn had initially planned to follow him to India but with the outbreak of the Indo-China war that same year, she and her family hesitated. Biographer Mathew shares,

“For Americans those days, the subcontinent was fraught with dangers…it was something they couldn’t wrap their head around. She didn’t have the courage to come to India, though she told me that she regretted not having come to India later.”

Things would have been different if Ratan Tata would not have come back to India

Ratan Tata’s life took a definitive turn when he made the choice to return to India in 1962. Carolyn, who was just 19 at the time, then met a man named Jones who was an architect and a flyer. According to Mathew, she felt a striking similarity between Jones and Tata.

Her father sensed she was “on a rebound,” but the two ultimately married. Years later, when Tata visited the U.S., he learned that Carolyn was happily settled and pregnant with her second child.

Mathew shares that Ratan took Carolyn and her husband out for dinner. There, he expressed his happiness for her and assured her that he wouldn’t reach out again.

“The embers of love their love never died,” said Mathew

True to his word, Ratan Tata did not contact Carolyn again while her husband was alive. After the passing of her husband, Carolyn reached out to Ratan Tata. According to Thomas Mathew, she began visiting India every year, often staying at Tata’s home. Despite the years apart, the love Carolyn held for Ratan never faded.

In the interview, Mathew mentioned,

“The embers of their love never died, in a manner of speaking and that’s their lov story.”

Mathew further shared that,

“Carolyn was once at a salon where she opened a book and saw Ratan’s photograph. She tore that page and kept it in one of her personal drawers and later showed it to me.”

Have a look at the whole interview,

From his first love to his biggest regret, the authorized biography on #RatanTata is now out. I speak to his biographer Thomas Mathew for this fascinating conversation. In full @themojostory here https://t.co/fvOl2htJBv #Ratantata #TataGroup pic.twitter.com/b3QV10sfu5

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) October 27, 2024

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