Ratan Tata promises tell-all memoir on life and work...in Japanese

The original chronicler of the history of the Tata group had wanted Ratan Tata to chronicle his experiences as chairman of the company as early as 2001, but the Chairman Emeritus of the salt-to-software conglomerate will be putting pen to paper only now. And while he’s promised to tell all in them, unfortunately, it’s going to be in Japanese.

In an interview to Japanese newspaper Nikkei, Tata has said that he will for the first time reveal every joy and sadness, every corporate deal, the politics of the Tata group, how Cyrus Mistry was chosen and even why he’s still unmarried, reported Bloomberg.

The Tata group has characteristically maintained silence over the matter but admitted that he had given an interview to the Nikkei.

Tata, who has always kept his personal life under wraps, had in a previous CNN interview revealed that he had come close to being married on four occasions, but chose not to drop names.

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“I came seriously close to getting married four times and each time, it got close to the air and I guess, I backed up in fear or one reason or another. Each of the occasions was different…But in the hindsight, when I looked at the people involved maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that I - I did it. I think it may have been more complex had the marriage taken place,” Tata told Sara Sidner in an interview in 2011.

While he’s unlikely to pen his memoirs in Japanese, Tata reportedly is no slouch when it comes to writing and the endorsement had come from no less than the official chronicler of the Tata Group.

“He is a very good writer,” Russi M Lala, who chronicled the history of the Tatas had told the Economic Times.

And despite showing only glimmers of humour when speaking, Tata is reportedly quite witty when it comes to his writing. A columnist in Open had pointed out how Tata was perhaps the only person who could shed light on how the company has grown during the two decades that he was chairman given how shrouded in mystery every decision taken by the conglomerate has been. Whether Tata will address all these and more remain to be seen, and hopefully not much will be lost in translation.