Ratan Tata reunited with his first true love after 50 years, took her out for dinner and…, read the untold story

• At home
• Company
• Ratan Tata reunited with his first true love after 50 years, took her out for dinner and…, read the untold story

A recently released book has revealed how Ratan Tata reunited with his first love after almost 50 years after their break-up.

In the 1960s, Ratan Tata, the industrial magnate, experienced his first real love with Caroline Emmons, the daughter of an architect in the US. However, the relationship could not progress due to circumstances that arose during the war between India and China. This revelation, along with several other untold stories about Tata’s life, has come to light in a recently released biography.

Ratan Tata’s first love

While studying in the United States, Ratan Tata met Caroline Emmons, whose father, Frederick Earl Emmons, was an architect and business partner of Tata’s father. Together, Frederick and Tata’s father had founded the successful architectural firm ‘Jones & Emmons’. Caroline first met Ratan when she was 19 years old. In the biography Ratan Tata: A Lifeauthor Thomas Mathew revives Caroline’s words: “I liked Ratan at first sight,” she said. Her parents loved him just as much. “But the relationship didn’t last long,” Mathew notes.

Ratan Tata Fist’s love story could not succeed

In July 1962, Ratan returned to India to visit his ailing grandmother, a move that would ultimately change the course of his life. According to the biography, Caroline had hoped to follow him to India. However, on October 20, 1962, war broke out between India and China. Although a ceasefire was declared within a month, tensions remained high from the American perspective. Shortly afterwards, Ratan and Caroline separated.

Caroline reportedly regretted not being able to give their relationship another chance. She later married Owen Jones, an architect and pilot, and had two children. In the book, Caroline says: ‘Ironically, I married a man who looked quite like Ratan.’ Owen passed away in 2006.

Ratan Tata reunites with first love

The following year, Caroline watched the film The Darjeeling Limited with her friends, a film about the journey of three brothers on an emotional journey to India. After the film, a friend asked if she had ever thought about visiting India. This simple question revived old memories.

Caroline revealed that she knew someone in India and expressed her desire to look for him online. She discovered that Ratan Tata had become the chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Trust. She contacted Ratan again via email and informed him about her plans to visit India. The following year, Caroline spent about five weeks in the country.

Ratan Tata dinner with first lover

Mathew notes that Ratan and Caroline met in Delhi and spent time together, rekindling their old bond. Caroline continued to visit India regularly, attending Ratan’s 80th birthday celebration in Mumbai on December 28, 2017, and meeting him again in 2021. Whenever Ratan visited the US, he took Caroline out for dinner, highlighting a bond that, although over time changed, remained deeply cherished.