Why Ratan Tata left his job in US and returned to India. ‘I came back for…’

Veteran industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons who transformed a staid group into India's largest and most influential conglomerate, breathed his last at south Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital at 11.30 pm on Wednesday.

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The visionary industrialist, who studied architecture and structural engineering in the United States and worked there for a short time, reportedly had no intention of returning to India. In an old interview with Simi Garewal, he revealed why he came back to his home country.

“I was in the US working as an architect and as a structural engineer for a period of time after I graduated,” Tata said during the interview.

He revealed, “I had no intention of coming back. I was not well settled but I was happily employed there.” When Simi asked why he came back, he replied, “My grandmother talked me into returning or rather I returned because she wanted me back. ”

“She was at that time little quite old and I have been very close to her. My mother and father had divorced when my brother and I were quite young and she brought us up. I was quite close to her and she wanted me back,” he added.

“I came back for her or I would not have come. I happily came back.”

Born on December 28, 1937, Ratan Tata was the son of Naval and Soonoo Tata. He and his younger brother, Jimmy, were brought up by their grandmother, Navajbai Sett, in the family estate known as Tata Palace in central Mumbai.

Ratan Tata death news:

The iconic industrialist, who redefined the Tata Group and steered its international presence, was admitted to Candy Breach Hospital Mumbai, where he breathed his last. To honour the industrialist and mourn his demise, several states, including Maharashtra and Jharkhand, announced a one-day state mourning on Thursday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the last rites of industrialist Ratan Tata will be performed with full state honours.