Published 11:58 IST, February 13th 2020
Ratan Tata opens up about conflicting relationship with his father
Indian industrialist Ratan Tata recently opened up about his conflicting relationship with his father who was 'quite upset' with him at a point in his life.
- India News
- 3 min read
Indian industrialist Ratan Tata recently opened up about his relationship with his father who he said was "quite upset" with him at a point in his life. Speaking to Humans of Bombay, The 82-year-old Chairman emeritus of Tata Sons spoke openly about Naval Tata.
Tata said that even though it is difficult now to mention who was right or wrong, but he recalls how he wanted to learn how to play the violin but his father insisted on piano, how he wanted to go to an American college but Naval insisted on British college. The businessman even had varied views on the choice of profession and mentioned that he was interested in studying architecture but his father wanted him to become an engineer.
He said, " It’s difficult now to say who’s right or wrong. I wanted to learn to play the violin, my father insisted on the piano. I wanted to go to college in the US, he insisted on the UK. I wanted to be an architect, he insisted on me becoming an engineer."
However, he further spoke about how there was a "fair bit of rancour", as Tata switched his majors and graduated with a degree in architecture even though he was enrolled in an engineering college. He further credited his grandmother for managing to study at Cornell University in the United States. He recalls how he was finally on his own after landing a job in an architecture firm in Los Angeles where he even worked for two years.
Tata said, " It was because of her that even though I enrolled for mechanical engineering, I switched majors and graduated with a degree in architecture. My father was quite upset and there was a fair bit of rancour, but I was finally my own."
Tata 'almost got married in LA'
Tata Group Chairman Emeritus even disclosed that ''it was in Los Angeles that he fell in love and almost got married''. In the same Facebook post, Tata opened up about his life in LA after his studying at Cornell. However, he also mentioned that he had to move back to India as his grandmother was unwell. However, the person he wanted to marry and her parents had certain objections with the girl moving to India along wit Tata because of the 1962 Indo-China war.
He further mentioned that he came back to visit his grandmother and thought that the person he wanted to marry would also accompany him. But the Indo-china war changed everything and the relationship also fell apart. In the post, Tata also talked about how he and his brother also faced 'fair bit of ragging and personal discomfort' because of his parent's divorce.
Updated 11:58 IST, February 13th 2020