A small scar and Ode to Joy on Taj's re-opening night

 

A large shop display window, located in a corridor directly opposite the entrance to the now-boarded-up Harbour Bar, that was decimated in the 26/11 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, has a simple message mounted on a tricolour background:

We salute all those who sacrificed their lives so that the rest of us could be informed.

But if you carefully touch the glass of the window you realise it isn't there. It probably cracked, or was blown away, during a grenade attack or gunfire on November 26, or in the hours after that, when 31 people, including 12 Taj staffers, including seven chefs, were killed. It is a small scar, still visible in the newly re-opened hotel. 

Ever since the Taj Mahal Tower hotel -- the palace or heritage wing remains shut for an extensive restoration job that will be completed only next year � opened its doors again on Sunday evening at 7 pm, with heavy security in place,  Mumbaikars have flooded the hotel.

Some sit in the lobby serenely listening to pianist Moreno, smart in black and white, play Ode to Joy, popularised in Beethoven's ninth symphony.

Others pose in the centre of the lobby, in front of the brighty-lit,spangled Christmas tree [Images] for photographs. The lobby blazes with lights and cheer, a tad forced. The portico outside is decorated with lit wreaths. About 100 staff members float around welcoming people/guests and managing the crowds of curious Mumbaikars.

Little knots of visitors float down the corridors to the pool area and the lobby of the old Taj, a portion of which is open, peeping at the just re-opened Ravissant (a luxury goods shop) festooned in marigold garlands, the brightly-lit Louis Vuitton handbag showroom and the Indian Textiles. They pause, quietly, and look at the glass-less window display.

Garlanded guests, who have just checked in, a number of them foreigners, head to the bank of elevators.

At the big window looking out to the glowing Tree of Life memorial for the 31 victims, located in the open-air atrium, opposite the popular Nalanda bookshop, amidst a sea of candles, Christmas trees and reindeer, patrons new and old gather. Some solemnly snap cell-phone pictures of the memorial as a souvenir. Others, probably tourists, take out cameras and shoot more special images.

A lady, probably from the North East, stands looking sadly at the flickering candles. She says she used to live in Bandra and decided to come today because she heard the hotel was opening. Moreno, the 'piano man', with a musical note brooch, comes across to chat with her. He recounts to her how during a restroom break, the terrorists came in and started shooting and he thought it was some construction work. But he managed to make an escape right through the main doors of the hotel.

Deepak Parekh, chairman, HDFC [Get Quote], and his wife Smita, sit in the lobby. They are almost certainly among the 1,000 guests invited by Taj Hotels and the Tatas, along with novelist Shobhaa De, Raymond Group chairman and managing director Gautam Hari Singhania and his wife Nawaz, Godrej [Get Quote] group chairman Adi Godrej, actor Rahul Bose [Images], Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank[Get Quote], among others, to mark the reopening of the hotel with a puja and a discreet function, after which Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group addressed the press at dusk, with Taj Hotels CEO, Raymond Bickson standing at his side.

He said, "This is a memorable day in (its) show of strength, a tribute to all those who have lost their lives or those who have saved many lives. It is an indication of our participation in the community of the city of Mumbai."

The Parekhs are probably catching their breath before they carry on to the next function of the evening. A few chairs away from them sits a woman with her eyes closed, motionless.

All of the Taj Mahal hotel's [Images] 278 rooms in the 23-storey tower wing are once again operational. Five restaurants of the hotel have also opened again � the hotel's rooftop Mediterranean eatery Souk, fine-dining eatery Zodiac Grill, its coffee shop Shamiana, bar Starboard and Indian cuisine restaurant Masala Kraft. They are booked out. At Starboard, nostalgic songs like Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonightplay, as city nightbirds troop in hoping for a table.

Outside the hotel, suited Deepak Datta, an NRI from the US, who says he was the first guest to re-check in after the opening, offers a series of interviews to the The Guardian, Sky News and ITN. "I booked the same room. I have to sleep in the same room tonight. By being the first guest I am doing my small bit," he says. 

'Thank you' card replaces bill for Trident's first customer

'Thank you for your support' was the first greeting, besides loads of smiles and flowers, offered by Trident to one of its first customers in place of the usual bill as the Hotel came back to life on Sunday after a hiatus of three weeks following the bloody Mumbai terror siege.

"I was surprised when I got the card saying thank you for your support instead of the bill," said Devendra Ksheer Sagar, the first customer at one of the restaurants of the Trident hotel, where 32 people were killed in the terror strike.

Sagar, the middle-aged patron of Trident, used to visit its restaurants after his morning walk at the Marine Drive along with his friends and guests to relish a warm cup of masala tea.

"I had come here for my morning walk and since I knew the hotel was re-opening today, I decided to try my usual cup of tea. The staff told me that they were open today," he said.

In place of any tense face, Sagar was greeted with warm smiles and yellow roses as he entered the lobby.

"As soon as I stepped into the hotel, many managers walked up to me and shook hands saying thank you. I was surprised on being told that I was their first customer. I was really touched by their gratitude," he said.

Tight security as Mumbai hotels prepare to reopen

Doormen in white suits and black turbans greeted visitors to the Oberoi with a bow on the eve of the hotel's reopening three weeks after it was targeted in a militant rampage. Security was noticeably tighter as guards scanned bags and sniffer dogs patrolled the ground outside.

Armed policemen stood watch among bunkers of sandbags outside the entrance to the hotel's Trident portion, where the owners said 100 rooms would reopen on Sunday, just weeks after 10 militants stormed sites across India's financial capital.

Inside the Oberoi, private security guards manned all lobby entrances, passing bags through metal detectors and X-ray scanners. Journalists' ID cards were checked against a press list, and reporters and photographers were patted down by hand - a far cry from the relaxed atmosphere at the luxury Oberoi before the attacks.

Militants from the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba are accused of staging the attacks that killed 164 people over the course of a three-day siege and paralyzed much of the Mumbai. Nine of the alleged gunmen were killed, and one is in police custody.

Two of the most high-profile targets were the sleek, sea-front Oberoi and another luxury hotel, the majestic, 105-year-old historic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower.

With Christmas approaching, both hotels have rushed to reopen sections to guests - with tighter security. The Taj Mahal Group said the tower wing of its hotel would reopen with a ceremony on Sunday evening.

The main areas of the Oberoi and the Taj - left in tatters after shooting sprees and a 60-hour standoff with police - are expected to remain closed for months.

The Taj, gutted by fire and destroyed by grenades, remained dark Saturday even as Christmas trees festooned with lights twinkled outside the main entrance.

The Taj had stepped up security even before the Mumbai attacks, in response to a deadly car bombing at the Marriott in Islamabad, Pakistan, in September - primarily to prevent a similar attack. All cars underwent checks, and metal detectors were installed at all main entrances.

The gunmen, however, slipped in through a back entrance that did not have detectors, hotel officials have said.

The Taj and the Trident reopen today

Back on their feet less than a month after the terror attacks

 
Sprucing up: Taj Mahal Hotel staff decorate a Christmas tree in the lobby on Saturday, the eve of the hotel’s reopening.

Mumbai: Terror-torn luxury hotels — The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and the Trident — will reopen their doors on Sunday after a gap of less than a month.

At a press conference here on Saturday, Rattan Keswani, president, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, told the media that the Trident would have 100 rooms occupied on the reopening day and its restaurants — India Jones, Frangipani, Opium Den and the Verandah — already received reservations calls.

In the wake of the attacks, the hotel sought expert help in upgrading security. “We have hired the best security consultant,” Mr. Keswani said.

Although he did not divulge the extent of spending on security upgrade, he said it was quite a lot. He spoke of the likelihood of the presence of armed guards and barricades at the entrances.

“The hotel will have large baggage scanners. Every piece of hand baggage will be checked, metal detectors will be in place at every entrance and there will be an identity check. However, these surveillance and security measures will be as “unobtrusive as possible,” he said.

The restoration of the Trident cost the Oberoi group, which manages the Oberoi and Trident hotels, about Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 lakh.

Of the two, the Oberoi suffered heavy damage and will reopen only after an estimated time of seven months. No decision on its reopening has been taken so far. The assessment process is likely to get over in 15 days, said Mr. Keswani. The restoration of the Oberoi will cost Rs. 40 crore to Rs. 50 crore. The insurance company, New India Assurance, already released Rs. 25 crore, he said.

Now the Trident’s lobby, the main affected area, sparkles — its unblemished look healing the discomfiting memory of the horror. Twenty-two guests and 10 staff lost their lives at the Trident and Oberoi, said Mr. Keswani.

According to Mr. Devendra Bharma, Executive Vice-President, during the attack, 135 guests were evacuated from the Oberoi and 316 guests were evacuated from the Trident. Guests dining at the restaurants were also evacuated.

He also said the hotel saw cancellations up to 30 to 35 per cent. However, this was true not just of this hotel, but in hotels all over the country. Moreover, this being the holiday season, the number of foreign guests is anyway low.

According to a Taj press note dated December 17, “268 rooms will be available, which include nine suites and six club rooms. The evening of December 21 will also see The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower reopening its world-renowned restaurants and eateries on the dot at 7.30 p.m., including The Zodiac Grill, Souk, Masala Kraft, Aquarius, Shamiana, Starboard and La Patisserie. Also reopening will be the Rooftop Rendezvous Banquet Hall and the Chambers.”

Both the Taj and the Oberoi have set up funds to help those affected by the attacks — the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust and the Oberoi Care Fund.