Wah Taj ( वाह ताज )…..!! The Crown of India, Gem of Mumbai

Taj..glorified legacy of Tatas.Attraction of every tourist across the globe.Heritage of India and place of sheer grace,steadfastly standing since 1903 facing the the iconic Gateway of India.To visit 5-star Taj was my distant dream.It was my niece's first birthday and I had an opportunity to witness the majestic Taj and it's grandeur.After clearance from security team, we drove our cars to the entrance of new Taj.Sardarji with his team greeted us and offered valet parking service.Taj has two grandeur constructions in their different architectural styles buld in different era, Taj Mahal Palace (6 floors) and Taj Mahal Tower (20 floors) equipped with all state-of-art amenities, luxuries, has around 550 rooms,44 suites and more than 10 restaurants.(Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taj_Mahal_Palace_Hotel).Taj has collection of variety of restaurants,cafes and dessert places offering plethora of relish cuisines like Masala Kraft (for Indian food lovers),Wasabi by Morimoto (Japanses food),Golden Dragon(Chinese cuisine),Shamiana is all day open for dining. La Patisserie has exotic range of desserts.



 
Elegant Entrance Lobby


We entered through the old-stylish revolving door. It was spacious, illuminated and elegant entrance lobby with beautiful flowers. Red roses were nicely arranged on the round table. I was seating in the lobby alone, at the main reception, 3-piece fabulous canvas grabbed my attention and I felt it something unique and antique. I started staring at it. My movement was keenly noticed by the receptionist and she cleared the desk so that I would get clear view it. I went up near the reception desk and wanted to ask about the canvas and suddenly at the bottom corner of it I saw a familiar artistic autograph. It was legible enough and it was M.F.Hussain. When I asked that lady at the reception about the meaning of that canvas, she smiled and gently pointed her finger towards the description of painting. The 3 piece canvas resemlbes Three Stanzas of the New Millennium which depicts the new India with blend of tradition and modernity.

CANVAS 1



(Courtesy-All canvas imagaes https://therodinhoods.com/post/husain-at-the-taj-mahal-mumbai/amp/)

STANZA ONE

It starts with the tower of info technology, next to the IT.
A Leo is seen climbing the Ashoka Pillar.
Peacock, the national bird, follows the flight of freedom.
A woman with her man in love forging ahead towards harmony and
peace lead by………………
A flying dove up in the sky.


CANVAS 2 
 



STANZA TWO

“Sound of distant thunder”, suddenly, through the gate of golden sun, nuclear energy in seven horses explode.

CANVAS 3

 
STANZA THREE

Prismatic triangle measures the infinite space. Destiny etched on the palm of E=MC^2, Super sonic plane break the sound behind. The leaning lady of pitcher pours water into the fish bowl below. In the end, chorus of Nartakis on the string of sitar, corresponds to the beat of seven horses. Surya chariot is in fast track.
When I asked more about the canvas, I was shocked to know that original canvas was painted by M.F.Hussain in 2000 and it was destroyed in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. It was badly deteriorated. After that nightmare, Taj Mahal management, Mr.Ratan Tata Sir and Mr.M.F.Hussain ji togetherly recreated this masterpiece. It was Hussain’s tribute to Taj.

(Source:DNAhttps://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-husain-s-tribute-to-the-taj-1210577#aff_inc1537072408127)

‘Masala Kraft’ Magic

We opted dinner in Masala Kraft, famous for authentic Indian cuisine, which serves home cooking food and chef uses light cooking oil. Our menu was customised by my brother and Mr. Anant. It was included from traditional crunchy starters (Papad, Potato chips) stuffed with light masala to mouth-watering dessert Rasmalai. Food was absolute deicious and sheer pleasure. Cake for birthday girl was made from Frech chocolate by La Patissere. Though, I am not avid foodie, I enjoyed it. Our menu was -

• Doodhiya Murg Tikka (Creamy chicken kebab cooked in clay oven)
• Murg Tikka Makhani (North Indian dish of chicken tikka simmered in rich buttery tomato gravy),
• Tamator Pudine ka Shorba (A tomato soup with hint of mint and spices)
• Dal Makhani, Jeera Rice, Naan and Lachcha Paratha and Angoori Rasmalai (Cottage cheese dumplings poached in sweetened and reduced saffron milk) 

The Who’s Who, Who stayed in TAJ

As I went across the entrance lobby in the main corridor (which joins Taj Mahal Tower to Taj Mahal Palace), wall-mounted glass cases grabbed my attention. It is included by memories of notable guests served by Taj, their photographs and autographs. I found it was worthy place to spend quality time. The guest list is long, Barak Obama, Hilary Clinton, George Bush, John Lenon, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, some professional sports teams, Kings, Queens of empire. Rooms have range from 20,000 INR per night to 8 Lakhs per night. When Obama visited India, he sayed in presidential suite which costs INR 8 Lakh/night. 






Good to know ‘Stuff'

 

Founder of Taj – Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.During the construtions of Taj, Jamsetji Tata imported the same steel used in Eiffel Tower. He also imported German steam based elevators, American fans, Turkish baths and English buttlers. One thing I noticed during my visit that, everyone there were neatly dressed. I was also wearing my suite.

During my visit to Taj, it has added value to my life. I breathed fresh air of hospitality and cherish those memories. I left the Taj hoping the next visit again. 

“Which was the last book you have read…?”

Let me begin with an anecdote experienced during my interview.
“Which was the last book you have read?” a yorker from a baritone voice. Though I am not an avid reader and bibliophile but in my CV I casually stated my hobby as ‘reading books’.
An utter silence in the interview cabin. I was dumbstruck and trapped and seemed no way out.
Fortunately, something flashed in my mind and I replied, “The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho” and I breathed a sigh of relief. “What life lesson did you learn from the book?” a consecutive yorker from the same baritone sound. I was clueless. “Do you know any quote or something?” this time I was cleaned bowled.

Image Source : Google Search

I was in deep and absolute state of perplexity. I had never anticipated such question. I call such questions as ‘filter question’, because adequate answer of this, does not mean that he/she got hired and insufficient answer does not mean that he/she got disqualified. Such ‘filter question’ just adds additional level of filtering to choose the best human resource in place. Such questions may not be asked in every interview. It conveys that the recruiter is interested to know more about you as person. So, why let oneself sacrifice on such trivial thing?
Reading a book is the safest hobby to tell the panelist. It manifests the intellectualism and class of maturity in a person. I believe that reading a book is like one-on-one conservation between you and author.
There are ample number of books readily available with variety of genre.The pick of book reflects your persona to the panelist.
I am enlisting some Do’s and Dont’s while responding this question,
Do’s :

• Be honest with whatever you say or written in your CV.
• Read at least one book (regional or international best sellers)
• If possible, read the book which is relevant to the your field. it would be easy to correlate.
• Read the excerpt or summary  of book from Internet. It really helps!
• Use pencil while reading to highlight important thoughts by author.
• Focus on ‘take home message’ from the book
• Remember any quote from book that left impact on you.

Dont’s :

• Don’t bluff the interviewer
• Don’t even say that you haven’t actually read it.
• Don’t give fake answer.If interviewer has already read the book then only God will save you
• Now, you must be curious and thinking that , how did I escape from that ‘filter question’ trap?
• I had given a quote from that book and coincidentally the same quote was in the 2007 Blockbuster movie of Om Shanti Om.

Quote from the book The Alchemist,
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping u to achieve it.”
Dialogue from the movie On Shanti Om,
अगर किसी चीज को दिल से चाहो तो पूरी कायेनात उसे तुमसे मिलाने की कोशिश में लग जाती है |
Needless to say, I was hired.
Happy reading!!

Writing something worthy

I always wanted to become a good writer, who plays with words, places appropriate words and expresses through the words. As someone rightly said, "Write to express, not to impress !!".

When I look upon to famous authors who gave literature of wisdom to all human beings. Literature has no boundaries and shackles.