Ratan Tata’s former girlfriend, Simi Garewal, shares painful note on his demise

Ratan Tata, an industrialist and philanthropist loved by the nation, passed away on Wednesday night in Mumbai. The chairman emeritus of Tata Sons died after a brief illness at the age of 86. 

His funeral will take place on Thursday (Oct 10) with full state honours, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced.

Tributes are pouring in for Ratan Tata who won hearts all over with his humble attitude and philanthropic works.

Simi Garewal, who is said to have briefly dated Tata many years back, also remembered the legend. She took to her X handle and wrote, “They say you have gone ..It’s too hard to bear your loss..too hard.. Farewell my friend..#RatanTata”

She also posted a photo of the two of them from the time Tata appeared on her famous show Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. 

Garewal once admitted that she was romantically involved with Ratan Tata for a short time. She talked about his personality in a 2011 interview, saying, “Ratan and I go back a long way. He’s perfection, he’s got a sense of humour, is modest, and the perfect gentleman. Money was never his driving force. He’s not as relaxed in India as he is abroad.”

Ratan Tata was her first guest on the popular talk show. During the chat, he admitted to having come close to marrying a few times, but it never happened.

Praising him for agreeing to appear on her show, Garewal wrote on her YouTube channel, “For a man who stays clear from the flashbulb glare of fame, it was generous of Ratan to be my very first guest in ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’.”

She recalls how he humbly greeted the crew.

“Few had seen Ratan at the time and I remember he won loads of admirers! My crew was floored by his lack of pretense. I remember he shook hands with each of them before leaving  –  in his Maruti!!”

Garewal also shared that Ratan Tata was her first friend after she returned to Mumbai from the US years back.

“Ratan Tata was my first friend in Mumbai. We had both just returned from abroad into terra incognita; both at the threshold of an unchartered world that lay ahead,” she wrote.

“Decades of triumphs later, Ratan’s intrinsic personality hadn’t changed: a man with a commanding presence yet a disarming diffidence. Still shy, still reticent, but ever articulate and gracious.”

Ratan Tata was awarded the two highest civilian awards of India — the Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and Padma Bhushan in 2000.