The late stalwart industrialist Ratan Tata passed away on October 9, 2024, and while a lot has been said and written about his business acumen, not much has been shared about his private life in the public domain. Tata's official biographer, Thomas Mathew, attended the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday, and he surprised the audience when he shared some lesser-known anecdotes from the legend's life, including a very special revelation about his love life.

While it came to be known only a few years ago that Tata, who never got married in his life, was in love with an American woman, Caroline Jones, back in his youth in the early 1960s, Mathew has now revealed that the two kept in touch even until years later.

"Caroline was charmed by Tata's looks, hazel eyes and personality from the moment she saw him in San Francisco. He was almost like a Greek God back then. And Tata too fell head over heels in love with her," Mathew gushed.

When Ratan Tata & Caroline parted ways

However, in 1962, Tata decided to return to India as his grandmother, whom Mathew described as the "centre of his universe", fell sick. It was also the year of the Sino-Indian War, and just like all the Americans, Caroline was scared that India would be invaded, and thus, she decided not to follow him to India. This marked the end of their relationship. Caroline later got married to Owen Jones.

"But the two of them were so much in love that in 1966, after the birth of Caroline's first child, Tata travelled to San Francisco to meet her. He took Caroline and Owen out for dinner and confessed that he wanted to see the former unhappy so that he could be with her. But instead, he saw her very happy in her life with Owen and he vowed never to get in touch with her again, and he did not until she reached out to him decades later," Mathew shared.

'Caroline visited Tata in India every December'

Mathew revealed that in 2006, after Caroline's husband Owen passed away, she wrote an e-mail to Tata when a friend asked if she knew anyone in India.

"She suddenly thought of Tata and shot an e-mail to him. In 2008, they got in touch with each other. Thereafter, every December, she came to India and spent 2-3 weeks with Tata at his home. The embers of love never died down between them," Mathew shared.

'Caroline hid Tata's photos in the lingerie drawer'

Mathew narrated that even after Tata and Caroline parted ways in 1962, she kept his photos with her all the while. "She hid his photos in the last drawer of her wardrobe, which is the lingerie drawer. And she told me that every time she thought about Tata, she took the photos out and said 'sorry' and kept them back inside. And she did this when her husband was not around," Mathew stated.

The biographer shared that Tata had three other girlfriends later, including a Gujarati woman, but they fell apart after she walked out on him one fine day.