An Autobigraphy of a Banyan Tree

J. R. D. Tata was born on 29 July 1904 in Paris, France, the second child of Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French wife, Suzanne "Sooni" Brière.[2] His father was a first cousin of Jamsetji Tata, a pioneer industrialist in India. He had one elder sister Sylla, a younger sister Rodabeh and two younger brothers Darab and Jimmy Tata. As his mother was French, he spent much of his childhood in France and as a result, French was his first language. He attended the Janson De Sailly School in









Paris.[3] One of the teacher's at that school used to call him L'Egyptian for some strange reason.[4] Tata also served in the French Foreign Legion for one year in the regiment Le Saphis during the Second World War.[5][6] After he left the service the whole regiment perished on an expedition in Morocco.[5][7]

He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay. Tata was educated in London, Japan, France and India.[8] When his father joined the Tata company he moved the whole family to London. During this time, J.R.D's mother died at an early age of 43 while his father was in India and his family was in France. After his mother's death, Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata decided to move his family to India and sent J.R.D to England for higher studies in October 1923.   JuHe was enrolled in a Grammar school, and was interested in studying Engineering at Cambridge.st as the Grammar course was ending and he was hoping to enter Cambridge, a law was passed in France to draft into the army, for two years, all French boys at the age of 20. As a citizen of France J.R.D had to enlist in the army for at least 1 year. In between the Grammar school and his time in the army, he spent a brief spell at home in Bombay. After joining the French Army he was posted into the regiment called Le Saphis (The Sepoys). Soon the Colonel of the regiment found that there was a member of his Squadron who could not only read and write French and English,[9] but could type as well; so he assigned him as a...