Now, everybody is writing about the terror attacks in Mumbai. I purposely chose not to. The reason being that the anguish and horror has already been put to paper by a multitude of media outbursts, blogs etc. However, one story that caught my attention was the one which chose to tread a different path and discuss not the horror and the lost lives but rather the lost splendor in the futile and dastardly act.
There was this wonderful article about the Taj Hotel in the Brunch, the Sunday supplement of the Hindustan Times, on December 7, 2008 titled “The Once and Forever Taj”. The article is very beautifully written by Vir Sanghvi and reveals many unknown facts about the Hotel. I would like to reproduce some excerpts which discusses the various Legends surrounding the Taj:
Few Hotels spawn legends as easily as the Taj. Here’s one that I think will be repeated in all future histories of this grand hotel. According to British newspapers, one of the tourists trapped at the Taj during the terrorist attack was stunned by the caliber of service. He says he had endured hours of forced detention in one of the restaurants when commandos suggested that there might be an escape route.
The tourist was so relieved that he grabbed a bottle of vintage Cristal champagne that was on display, seized two tumblersand was about to open the bubbly when he was stopped by a waiter.
Annoyed at this apparent attempt at economy in the middle of carnage, he snarled, “I’m bloody well going to open it.” The waiter was surprised by his response. “Oh yes sir,” he said. “It’s just that these are the wrong glasses for champagne.” And so, he pulled out champagne flutes, opened the bottle and poured out a couple of glasses.
Could this story be true?
Knowing the level of service at the Taj, I reckon it could. But even if it is made up, it’s just one of the many myths and legends that surround the Taj.
The most famous of course, concerns the architect. According to legend, the Taj was designed by a Frenchman who sent the Tatas his architectural plans and was pleased to hear that they had been faithfully executed. Some years later, he finally arrived in Bombay to see the grand hotel that had been designed to his specifications.
When he arrived, he was shattered. The idiots had misread the plans and built the hotel back to front. The grand entrance did not face the sea as he had intended. It was the back of the hotel that got the sea view.
He was so depressed that late at night, he threw himself off the fourth floor and died instantly.
It’s a good story but it is completely untrue. The Taj was actually designed by two Indian architects, D N Mirza and Sitaram Vaidya – no Frenchmen were involved. And it was not built back to front. They had always intended to construct an entrance that faced the Colaba back lanes so that horse-drawn carriages could make a grand entry. That the hotel should be designed by Indians is in keeping with the genesis of the project. Which of course, leads us to the other great legend about the Taj.
We know that Jamshedji Tata built the Taj. But why did India's steel king venture into a field about which he knew nothing? Legend has it that the genesis of the Taj lay in Jamshedji's humiliation.
There are many versions of the story but the one I like best involves the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. In those days, the Yacht Club, at Apollo Bunder (there was no Gateway of India then, it was built after the Taj) was the snootiest place in town. And naturally, no Indians were allowed on its premises unless they were waiters, cooks or cleaners.
Jamshedji, who was Sir Jamshedji by then, was invited by an English acquaintance to the Club. He arrived at the appointed time, only to discover that they wouldn't let him in. The no-Indians policy applied to all brown people, even to Parsees who were not very brown and knights of the empire. All white people, even if they were cleaners or clerks, were very welcome.
The story goes that Jamshedji was so angered by the slight that he resolved to build a hotel next to the Yacht Club that was so grand that no- body would ever bother with the Yacht Club and its no-Indians policy again. And sure enough, he succeeded. The Yacht Club survives today, decrepit, slightly seedy and largely ignored by all but a few sailors and drunks.
Other versions of the story have Jamshedji being refused entry to the Majestic Hotel (also a stone's throw from the Taj, it is an MLA's hostel now) or Pyrkes Hotel. Every story ends with his resolve to build a hotel that was greater and grander than any British-owned hotel in his city.
The problem is that there is no verification for this legend. Jamshedji himself never spoke of any such humiliation and the chances are that the story was made up later (There is a similar story about Jawaharlal Nehru being refused entry to the Allahabad Club after he came back from Cambridge so perhaps this is a recurring Indian theme.)
One legend that does appear to be true though is that in the 1950s, the Taj management was so outraged by reports of how Indians were treated by South Africa's apartheid regime that it put up a sign near the gate reading "No dogs or South Africans allowed."
There was this wonderful article about the Taj Hotel in the Brunch, the Sunday supplement of the Hindustan Times, on December 7, 2008 titled “The Once and Forever Taj”. The article is very beautifully written by Vir Sanghvi and reveals many unknown facts about the Hotel. I would like to reproduce some excerpts which discusses the various Legends surrounding the Taj:
Few Hotels spawn legends as easily as the Taj. Here’s one that I think will be repeated in all future histories of this grand hotel. According to British newspapers, one of the tourists trapped at the Taj during the terrorist attack was stunned by the caliber of service. He says he had endured hours of forced detention in one of the restaurants when commandos suggested that there might be an escape route.
The tourist was so relieved that he grabbed a bottle of vintage Cristal champagne that was on display, seized two tumblersand was about to open the bubbly when he was stopped by a waiter.
Annoyed at this apparent attempt at economy in the middle of carnage, he snarled, “I’m bloody well going to open it.” The waiter was surprised by his response. “Oh yes sir,” he said. “It’s just that these are the wrong glasses for champagne.” And so, he pulled out champagne flutes, opened the bottle and poured out a couple of glasses.
Could this story be true?
Knowing the level of service at the Taj, I reckon it could. But even if it is made up, it’s just one of the many myths and legends that surround the Taj.
The most famous of course, concerns the architect. According to legend, the Taj was designed by a Frenchman who sent the Tatas his architectural plans and was pleased to hear that they had been faithfully executed. Some years later, he finally arrived in Bombay to see the grand hotel that had been designed to his specifications.
When he arrived, he was shattered. The idiots had misread the plans and built the hotel back to front. The grand entrance did not face the sea as he had intended. It was the back of the hotel that got the sea view.
He was so depressed that late at night, he threw himself off the fourth floor and died instantly.
It’s a good story but it is completely untrue. The Taj was actually designed by two Indian architects, D N Mirza and Sitaram Vaidya – no Frenchmen were involved. And it was not built back to front. They had always intended to construct an entrance that faced the Colaba back lanes so that horse-drawn carriages could make a grand entry. That the hotel should be designed by Indians is in keeping with the genesis of the project. Which of course, leads us to the other great legend about the Taj.
We know that Jamshedji Tata built the Taj. But why did India's steel king venture into a field about which he knew nothing? Legend has it that the genesis of the Taj lay in Jamshedji's humiliation.
There are many versions of the story but the one I like best involves the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. In those days, the Yacht Club, at Apollo Bunder (there was no Gateway of India then, it was built after the Taj) was the snootiest place in town. And naturally, no Indians were allowed on its premises unless they were waiters, cooks or cleaners.
Jamshedji, who was Sir Jamshedji by then, was invited by an English acquaintance to the Club. He arrived at the appointed time, only to discover that they wouldn't let him in. The no-Indians policy applied to all brown people, even to Parsees who were not very brown and knights of the empire. All white people, even if they were cleaners or clerks, were very welcome.
The story goes that Jamshedji was so angered by the slight that he resolved to build a hotel next to the Yacht Club that was so grand that no- body would ever bother with the Yacht Club and its no-Indians policy again. And sure enough, he succeeded. The Yacht Club survives today, decrepit, slightly seedy and largely ignored by all but a few sailors and drunks.
Other versions of the story have Jamshedji being refused entry to the Majestic Hotel (also a stone's throw from the Taj, it is an MLA's hostel now) or Pyrkes Hotel. Every story ends with his resolve to build a hotel that was greater and grander than any British-owned hotel in his city.
The problem is that there is no verification for this legend. Jamshedji himself never spoke of any such humiliation and the chances are that the story was made up later (There is a similar story about Jawaharlal Nehru being refused entry to the Allahabad Club after he came back from Cambridge so perhaps this is a recurring Indian theme.)
One legend that does appear to be true though is that in the 1950s, the Taj management was so outraged by reports of how Indians were treated by South Africa's apartheid regime that it put up a sign near the gate reading "No dogs or South Africans allowed."
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