Episode 4 Hotel India

MUSIC: Piya Tu Ab To Aaja by Asha Bhosle

Mumbai.

The biggest city in India.

Endlessly rich in culture

and in contradictions.

It's home to one of the oldest and grandest hotels in the world,

the Taj Mahal Palace.

It's beyond just luxury.

You know, this is a mirage in the middle of this city.

It has over 500 rooms...

..and 1,500 staff.

I don't feel that I'm 61,

I feel that I'm 16.

Taj has built me very strongly.

It's famed for being meticulous,

where no detail is too small

or demand too great.

Anything that's possible.

Can I get you a pink elephant? I'll try!

HE LAUGHS

With an army of staff striving for flawless service.

This is India and we frankly don't say no to anything.

It's where the super-rich of today

come to live like the maharajas of India's past.

Sometimes I close my eyes and I pretend that all of India

is like this.

MUSIC: Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller

Since the hotel opened its doors in 1903,

the daily demands of guests have been met by English-style butlers.

They are schooled in every aspect of a guest's stay.

During the visit, what are all the things we have to keep in our mind?

Basically, getting yourself ready for the VIP visit.

It can be a state head, a business head,

it can be a celebrity.

Just get the tea set up ready, and also the breakfast set up,

because she will call any moment.

It is like a second home to the guests who are travelling,

so as far as business travellers are concerned,

they can't take their entire team along with them.

But this is the one who

can create or gives a kind of service

that they are used to in their home

or in their business unit.

Then you start doing the research on their preferences.

For example, does somebody have a habit of jogging?

So you know that now you have to have a jogging map in the room.

So these are the things that you have to remember,

especially when the lady valets are upcoming.

So they have notes of vanity requirement.

Like a, what do you call it, a heavy-duty...your hair dryer.

That's the reason we, as a butler service,

are here - to give the meaning of luxury to our guest.

Thank you very much, have a great evening.

When a regular guest returns,

their room is set to their specific preferences...

..by their preferred butler.

-You want it to be perfect?

-Yes, ma'am.

What do you know about this guest?

He's a very regular guest.

And his preferences...like he likes talcum powder in the room,

which will be set from the housekeeping side.

Adrian is preparing for the arrival of Tikka Singh.

Whenever he comes up to us, we definitely look after him.

Tikka is a descendant of one of India's royal dynasties,

with a history rather older than the hotel itself.

MUSIC: Yeh Raat Bjeegi Bheegi by Raj Kapoor

-A garland, sir.

-Thank you, how are you?

-Good afternoon, Mr Singh.

-How are you?

-I'm fine, thank you, sir, how are you?

-Nice to see you.

Oh, how nice. It's beautiful.

I love these flowers, yes, absolutely.

-Who did this?

-The housekeeping department.

-Please thank them.

-Certainly, I'll do that.

-It's absolutely exquisite.

Thank you.

-Enjoy your stay with us, sir, a pleasure to have you back, sir.

-Thank you very much.

-I'll have some of that.

-Mr Singh,

-what would you like to enjoy, sir?

-I'll try the guava berry.

-Certainly, sir. A cold towel for you, sir.

-Very nice.

Where would you like me to place the guava berry for you, sir?

I'll drink it right now, in fact.

I'm not entirely sure how I should address you.

Is it Mr or Your Excellency...?

Or Tikka-ji.

-Tikka-ji?

-Yes.

-And Tikka means...?

-It means "crown prince".

Before Independence, the maharajahs ruled over vast swathes of India.

Tikka's great-grandfather was the Maharajah of the province

of Karputhala.

NEWSREEL: From every corner of the state, they bring him gifts.

They make abasements before the maharaja

and his four-year-old grandson.

He became ruler at the age of five.

They weigh him with pieces of solid gold which afterwards are distributed

to the poor,

and days of feasting end with a durbar and state procession.

The last maharaja, my great-grandfather,

died in this hotel.

He was on his way for a last visit to Europe in 1949.

There's been great attachment with this property,

five generations have come.

He was very friendly with Mr Tata.

He came for the inauguration in 1903.

-The original founder of the hotel?

-Exactly, yeah.

And he said he was very impressed that Mr Tata had built

a world-class hotel!

It's nice for the descendants to continue this tradition, you know.

This is a nice way to maintain a link with the past.

Does everybody here know who you are, do you think?

Some, some not. I keep it very discreet.

It's better.

HE LAUGHS

-Why is that?

-I think

I enjoy the aspect of being incognito,

you really get to know people better.

They're completely transparent with you, they're relaxed,

that's the way it should be.

Otherwise they get a little stiff.

HE LAUGHS

If you just hang those suits up, please.

But in fact you're a member of the royal family.

So what? It's nice

to be welcomed normally, too,

as a regular guest, I think.

We are a democracy now

and it's nice to merge with new India.

And I think people appreciate that much more.

And when they find out who you are,

they're very, very intrigued.

And use you as an example.

I think it's very important to remain humble.

We have such disparity in this country

and you have to be an example.

I try and do everything myself

and travel normally and don't have hangers-on.

That's the way to do it, you know.

I need to go and see a friend of mine, so I think I'll go there.

I need to get some flowers organised.

-Can you organise a nice bouquet of flowers?

-Certainly, sir.

The flowers are for Tikka's friend, Sharon Stone.

The Hollywood actress is staying in the presidential suite.

MUSIC: Oriental Swing by Lil Hardin Armstrong

She's in Mumbai to host a charity auction at the hotel.

Deputy general manager, Parveen,

is in charge of this high-profile event.

Hello?

We have some celebrities from Hollywood

coming down.

And a lot of Indian Bollywood celebrities will be there.

And most of the tables have been picked up by some of the top people in India.

So, basically, these are Indian celebrities who have donated

and taken a table and will take part in the dinner.

In-between, there will also be an auction.

It's a sit-down dinner for about 323 people.

How many people are involved in this operation?

From the hotel, we will have about 140 people,

just to serve the people in the front,

and there are chefs involved,

and easily about 200 people from the hotel.

And from management, probably another 150.

So, to put on a function like this,

you will have about 300, 350 people

who go behind the scene and in front of the scene.

But there's only 300 invited guests.

Yeah, but it's a very complicated set-up,

so we started three days before

and you need to be precise in terms of the lighting,

and so you need to do light checks every day before

and do sound checks a few hours before,

and also in terms of it's a sit-down service,

so you need about three people for ten people,

so the numbers keep going up.

Good morning, hi. We'll quickly check the lobby...

With 1,500 people working in the hotel,

there are three members of staff to every guest.

Executive Housekeeper, Indrani, has over 200 room boys

under her instruction.

Danesh, just write down the notes.

We'll have to plan out for polishing of the lobby furniture in the night.

What is that? Shift, shift, shift, shift.

I want you to take this plant, I want to take this plant.

Put it out, put it out!

Do you have to be a little bit obsessive to do your job?

What qualities of you does it require?

I think...qualities? I'd say

the knack to see everything at every given point of time.

What is this white thing over there?

Leave a message - it has to be scrubbed.

What have they done?

It's like we are being trained and tuned

to always be looking out for things,

to notice where it is going good

and at the same time see what we can improve on.

I want all the flower beds to be clean,

but I don't want the guests to be disturbed.

This is looking nice.

Fantastic! I think this is our best polishing done,

it's really lovely.

It's an absolutely sparkling floor and I love it.

Good morning!

I'm looking for perfection,

I'm looking for that fine detailing.

There are many things which sometimes my boys,

even if they are regular in areas, they cannot see it.

It's very important for me that I involve the boy.

That is why every area that I go, you'll see I'm involving the boy, the one who has to do it.

Tikka, when you open the mini bar...

Can you see the corner? Put your hand, put your hand.

Can you put this dust here?

I want this to be taken...

I randomly try to check not one room, a series of rooms,

so that I know that if a person is to improve,

was it that it was missed in one room or was a continuity?

When I took out the bathrobe,

there was a small stain on that bathrobe.

The pillows were not rightly ironed,

and he has missed out a stain on the bath sheet.

Similarly, he missed out a stain on the bathrobe,

and those are very faint stains,

but then we expect them to tune their eyes and look out for them.

Over there. Can you see that?

Change it once more, all right?

MUSIC: In the Still of the Night by Ella Fitzgerald

Thomas has been a room boy at the hotel for nearly three decades.

Over the years,

he has perfected the exact ways in which a room must be prepared.

Why do you have to wear gloves?

-Good afternoon.

-Good afternoon, Thomas.

Thomas has been cleaning for Maria Mooers for the last 25 years.

83-year-old Maria is an American oil heiress.

She lives in the hotel for six months of the year.

Thomas, just carry on as usual.

I don't know, there is something about this, it has a certain air

and tradition,

-which is very nice.

-When did you first come here?

I first came here when I was...

They hadn't built the pool yet.

Hello, I'd like the bottle service, please.

Thank you.

I have been in this hotel for the past five years

and she has been here much before us, so I can say that

she grew with the hotel.

Yes, good afternoon.

Please. I'd like the usual order.

The hot skimmed milk, the coconut water.

And is Rajesh on duty today?

OK, fine, if he could bring it.

She has been like a family for us,

somebody who stays with us

six months is as good as our own parents or anybody.

And, obviously, her needs can be a big refrigerator

or a special table

to showcase or worship all her idols.

The little book shelf we keep every time she comes,

and all the books are in it.

It's because it's like a home for her.

-Rajesh, hello.

-Hello.

-We'll just have it in the usual place.

-Yes, ma'am.

Maria doesn't eat Indian food

or dine in the hotel's air-conditioned restaurants.

She prefers to eat in her room.

-You like to have a fridge here?

-Yes.

Because I buy things they don't normally give.

What happens when you're not here?

I take it to Ayaz's house

and he kindly keeps it, his wife is very sweet.

And I'm friendly with all of them. He has two daughters.

Teenage.

And I couldn't manage without him, really.

When in India, Maria employs Ayaz as a personal assistant.

He spends the afternoons and evenings with her.

He was with the hotel,

and under contract as a driver,

but I saw the potential,

so I said, "Come and work for me."

So he did, as a driver,

but he was very intelligent and he went to university

and studied mechanical engineering or something like that.

I'm not quite sure exactly,

but anyway, my material was a lot easier.

Ayaz helps you all through the year?

Yes, he does.

I've been here for the past 14 years.

Is it 15 now?

-Coming up, I think.

-Since 1999.

-That's true.

-Since 1999.

-So you travel...?

-Along with her.

Well, at a certain point...

She knows my family, I know her family.

..You have to just bow to the inevitable.

It's harder to travel alone.

And of course, he's good company, he's fun.

So, anyway...

Maria still works, she owns an oil business in Texas,

and is often up until the early hours making investments in America.

Do you enjoy working?

Oh, I do. What would you do all the time?

You can't party every night.

I don't consider it a waste of time at all, I enjoy it.

Some people in your circumstances would just want to give up work by now.

Oh, no way!

I really enjoy it

and it's also my livelihood.

It makes your travels possible?

Makes everything possible.

Jewellery, everything else.

All the things that most ladies like.

You enjoy the nice things of life?

Don't we all?

SHE LAUGHS

Mumbai has always been very aspirational

and Mumbai is called the city of dreams.

In the past there has been history of people,

who were fairly common, and came here

to make it big in the film industry

and struggled their way up and kind of made it big,

and there are also histories

and stories of people who came from various parts

of the country and established small businesses

and the area flourished. So this hotel fits into that culture

and you will find a lot of people when you talk to them will tell you

that the first time their aspiration when they made it big was to come

and eat in this hotel,

and when they made it bigger was to come and stay in this hotel.

So it is fairly ingrained into the social structure and memories of the people in this country.

I can stay in any presidential suite room in any five-star hotel

in the world now.

But this is a landmark for me.

Taj.

Ashish is a newly wealthy Indian businessman,

living in the UK.

He's a regular guest

and is staying in a £1,000-a-night suite with his brother and a friend.

You set up a call centre in India?

-Yes.

-Successful?

-Successful.

-Big money?

-Yes.

-Good money.

Very big money.

-You travel round the world now?

-Yes.

Can I show you my passport?

-Yeah.

-Just a minute.

This passport is my new passport.

So...

I think seven months ago.

So, one, two,

three, four, five, six, seven,

eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14,

15, 16, 17, 18, 19.

22, 23, 24, 25, 26,

27, 28, 29,

30, 31, 32, 33, 34...

..52, 53, 54, 56.

57, 58, 59.

60, 61.

62, 63.

-In how many months?

-Eight months.

You travel the world?

All. This is Nepal.

This is Singapore, Hong Kong, Iraq.

Macau,

United States of America, India.

Palace services.

-Good morning.

-Good morning, how are you?

-Would you like me to set the order on the armchair?

-Yes, please.

So how is your morning in the Taj?

It's very nice, sir. Not very busy.

Can you put some lemon on that papaya

-and some black pepper as well?

-Yes.

Ashish was ten when he first visited Mumbai on a school trip.

I came in my school

to see the Bombay and Mumbai teams

and we see the Gateway of India.

And there is a Taj Mahal hotel.

So I ask my teacher, "What is this?"

She is telling me,

"This is the Taj Mahal hotel

"and lots of big people are coming here

"and they are staying here,"

so I ask my teacher,

"Can I go inside?"

She is telling me, "No,

"you I'm not big. You are coming from middle-class family.

"You are not going in this hotel."

So I...

That time, one of my friends was with me,

I tell him, "One day

"I'll become a big man and I come here."

And there is my dream.

Lots of hotels, but I like this.

You see this room,

I think the height 16-foot or 18-foot,

and generally hotels are ten-feet or like this.

This is a mahal!

It's a palace. Mahal is the Indian word, palace.

Who can live in the palace? Of course, I'm a king.

So, this hotel I rent for two days,

so two days I am a king.

In India, everybody has a dream for Taj.

OK, boys, come inside, the night boys.

Each morning, Indrani holds training sessions with her staff,

schooling them in the correct way to interact with guests.

Sunil, we'll do a mock ironing board delivery, OK?

So you think that this is a door

and I am the guest

and you have come to deliver an ironing board,

so continue. Start!

I just knock three times?

OK.

No, you don't have to say, "Ding dong!"

Like that, it's a complete drama act.

OK, fine.

-Talk, talk, talk.

-OK. Come in!

-Good morning, Miss Gupta.

-Good morning!

-How are you, ma'am?

-Fantastic.

-You require an ironing board, ma'am?

Yes, I wanted an ironing board. Can you make it a little fast?

Yes, ma'am, sure.

This is the way, when you conduct a training,

you have to do an actual.

You have to be very confident when you are speaking.

You've got my point?

It also starts with how you deliver.

I have seen, most of the time,

the boy rings the bell. After that,

he starts moving with his back towards a guest.

At that time, you should say, "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm just bringing it."

That's understood, no? Not everybody likes to see your backside.

Tell me what your home life was like, how you grew up.

My house was, like, ordinary.

I don't have my own room. I don't have my own things.

Nothing, it's normal.

So we have four brothers and sisters,

we are all sleeping in one room.

But we have a very good love with our family,

so, because of my mother's love

and my family support,

I'm here.

Can I have some water, please?

And a cup of tea?

-Yes, I have some cappuccino.

-Cappuccino.

-And this gentleman wants some green tea.

-Green tea for you, sir.

I think this start and this love, my mother's love,

are always with me. Right now,

my mother is no more.

She is no more with me,

but I don't know if she is in heaven.

I think she sees me and sees I'm happy right now.

She's part of your success?

I ask my mother,

"I want to go to Taj," so she's telling me,

"You learn more and if you're doing very good things,

"then you definitely achieve the goal

"and you definitely go one day in the Taj."

This is my mother's promise.

And I did it.

Now this 60-metre road,

this is a journey of 20 years.

Few staff can afford to live near the hotel,

as property prices in Mumbai are amongst the highest in the world.

Ajay works as a room boy.

He lives two hours outside the city.

His one-bedroom flat is shared with his wife, mother,

daughter and two sons.

Ajay leaves for work at 5.30 every morning.

HE SINGS

HORN BEEPS

HE SINGS LOUDER

THEY PLAY PERCUSSION

THEY JOIN IN SINGING

Ajay has been cleaning for guests for the last 18 years.

With celebrities from around the world

flying in for the charity auction,

Parveen and his team leave nothing to chance.

When does Sharon Stone walk in?

"Sharon Stone makes remarks and introduction, auction."

-That's at about 9.30.

-9.30, so for 15 minutes,

you can sell the second course,

-I mean the second replenishment.

-The rotis...

But once Sharon Stone is on, they want you to be completely back.

In that case, would they be OK if somebody wants Indian breads...?

They're OK, so if you could just sell extra helpings of Indian bread.

MUSIC: Oriental Swing by Lil Hardin Armstrong

Walking in the hotel and meeting some of the best people,

the most important people from the country, internationally,

that becomes your job and then you're doing that every day,

but that also brings in a bit of responsibility and a bit of glamour

and a bit of, I would say,

every day is different,

so you really look forward to meeting these people. That's the lucky part of this job.

It doesn't give you enough time to go out,

so at least the world comes to you.

When the people have finished the second course,

do you want us to wait till here to start clearing?

I'll send you guys the new run of show.

There's nothing that's changed timing-wise...

Much of the evening's success will be down to Chef Oberoi

and his 250 chefs.

He has cooked for dignitaries

and heads of state from around the world.

President Obama, George Bush,

Bill Clinton...

..Mrs Hillary Clinton, Francois Mitterrand,

the German chancellor,

the Singapore prime minister, the Japanese prime minister,

the Japanese crown prince,

the Russian president,

for everyone, practically.

I'd be so nervous.

I don't think one has to be nervous about it.

I think one should be confident of the product you're giving.

And I will never let a product go to the table

which has not been tasted by me.

It will never pass.

It has to work.

Once the customer has eaten, there's no retake.

You can't say, "I'll rectify it," and bring it back. No!

The bullet is already fired!

Good evening, Mr Singh...

The evening's event is in aid of amfAR, the AIDS research charity.

Tikka Singh will be escorting his friend, Sharon Stone.

He has arranged for some couture luggage to be auctioned at the event.

This is my invitation.

It's the first event being hosted in India

by amfAR.

I did something in Cannes for them this year, in May.

That's how I got to meet some of the executives

and they said, "Please try and help us in India."

So one did.

MUSIC: Oriental Swing by Lil Hardin Armstrong

My hairdresser said that he'd done Hillary Clinton's hair.

I'm so very special

SHE LAUGHS

So, your first time in India?

It is, which is a beautiful thing.

It's just a wonderful moment

to have that first awakening to India.

To see the Gate and the Arabian Sea

out your window is kind of incredible.

Impressive, I mean, the whole thing is really, really beautiful,

really picturesque, and full of sights and smells and colours

and it's just great.

Hurry, I don't have to see the pan. Go!

Without further ado, let's put our hands together

and welcome the beautiful, the wonderful Miss Sharon Stone.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'd just like to tell you,

get out your wallets.

SHE LAUGHS

We're going to start with an item

that comes from friends of mine

at Louis Vuitton and my escort, Tikka Singh.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

This one is for those who travel in serious style,

So that's basically everyone here.

This is a complete and luxurious Louis Vuitton Jetsetter travel set.

I've got five, I'll go to seven.

11. I got 11.

Looking for lucky 13.

I've got 11.

13.

I've got 13...

HORNS BEEP

MUSIC: Lullaby by Gayaneh

The threads have to be clipped, all of them.

I can see some things coming out.

Can you clip the threads...

all of them, please?

Today, Princess Astrid of Belgium is arriving

for her first stay at the hotel.

Get the brush and wet cloth, fast.

As ever, Executive Housekeeper, Indrani,

is overseeing the finer details of preparation.

Straight line.

I've just had it cleaned.

You come into this entrance and you will smell jasmine,

you smell the marigold,

you smell Indian fragrance.

So the moment the lady comes out of the car,

she sees it and she knows she's stepping into the Taj Mahal Palace.

And it is, as you must have heard of it,

what we present inside is so different from the outside hustle,

bustle, heat and the sound,

so the moment that you step down you should know that, yes,

you step into a different world.

We want to hear her say, "Wow!" as she enters.

For General Manager, Gaurav, the protocol for welcoming

a dignitary or head of state is never straightforward.

The basic difference is how do you greet

the head of state, the royalty, there are different ways.

There are small nuances

associated with every kind of greeting.

For example, she's royalty.

She'll be referred to as "Your Royal Highness".

And you don't extend your hand.

Only if she extends her hand, then you extend your hand.

So, with a head of state,

it's exactly the opposite.

You're supposed to welcome them by extending your hand.

So small things like these have to be kept controlled.

I think that's the protocol as far as all royalties are concerned.

But I think over a period of time it's blurred a bit.

I think they are far more flexible now.

And I think they don't want to be rude if you extend your hand first.

I don't think they want to be rude about it.

-Your royal highness, welcome to the hotel.

-Thank you.

Thank you very much.

This is an Indian traditional ceremony.

Yes, I receive it...

Princess Astrid is here to commemorate the day in 2008

when terrorists tore through Mumbai and the hotel.

On the 26th November, as the sun set on the city,

ten armed men in boats docked on the shore.

They began a series of co-ordinated attacks on locations

across the city.

Many were the haunts of wealthy, foreign visitors.

It was a scary moment when...

She was the first to know when the bombs dropped because that was

the entrance where they got in from

and the room was right on that entrance.

I turned the light off so they wouldn't realise that...

I normally am there, but I left at 9.30, 9.20,

and 9.35 was the first sign of attack.

Once I reached home, my sister-in-law, she told my wife,

"Where am I?"

That's how we got to know that the hotel is under attack.

-We were constantly on the phone the whole night.

-On the, um...

On the cellphone.

After firing on the street outside the hotel,

two terrorists walked into the lobby dressed as backpackers.

There were 2,000 people inside the hotel,

including diamond-broker Mark Boston and his wife Mily.

Mily?

They'd been coming to the hotel for 40 years.

Milly was having a bath,

and she said, "I can hear gunfire."

I came out and said, "Mark, what's going on?

"There's some people shouting."

Suddenly everything went very quiet and...

-No, but you said, "There's gunfire," I remember so clearly.

-Yes, but...

And I said, "Don't be silly, what do you know about gunfire?"

But then I realised that she was absolutely right,

that it was gunfire.

I still hear the noise. The running all over the floors.

You don't know what floor.

It was the sixth floor, we were on the third floor then,

but you could hear shouting and...

And the shots shooting as well, which was quite terrifying.

I just hear these shots and they were so new to me.

So I thought maybe some housekeeping person is trying to

open the service door behind.

It happened once, it happened twice,

and at the third instance

my instinct said, "There's something wrong."

I went there behind and I opened the door, and boom...

There was a gentleman lying down, shot.

The first explosion which I heard happened

right below my feet, in the sense I was in one of the walk-in coolers

trying to get some vegetables from there, and gone inside,

and that happens to be about the Shamiana restaurant.

So I went down, I came out of the elevator,

I just opened the door which goes into the...

..the lobby, and I saw bodies lying around, a lot of blood

and the smell of gunpowder.

-You know, they had these heavy bags with...

-Rucksacks.

..rucksacks, and they had AK-47s, and, er...

he was spraying the weapon in all directions.

I remember all the flash, the red flash from the guns.

You could see it.

And people, of course, were scattered everywhere.

And then Mily... Then it all went terribly, terribly quiet.

It's extraordinary, wasn't it?

It was the most quiet, sort of, eerie, scary quiet.

We put our training shoes on

because we agreed that if we had to run for it, you know,

we need to have the right shoes on, apart from anything else.

So we were fully dressed ready to, if we had to...

had to make a move.

And things got steadily noisier and noisier,

and I mean, they were louder explosions.

And I realised they were out to destroy the building.

So you made a decision?

Yes. The decision we didn't take till quite a lot later.

Mark was the next one.

I came first and then he followed me.

Then we just went rushing down the stairs.

We ran so fast. We went from the third floor to the basement.

And the flames were coming along the banisters here.

So that this was all aflame.

All this debris falling all the time.

Mark and Mily managed to escape,

but hundreds of guests remained trapped inside.

Many of the staff on duty that night stayed to help them.

It was our moral responsibility to look after them

and make sure that they are consoled, made comfortable.

The chefs began hiding guests in The Chambers,

the hotel's private members' club.

This was the place where the guests were brought...

that night.

This was basically The Chambers.

We brought them here away from the area

where the action was taking place.

So we thought this will be the safest place for these people.

The plan was to evacuate guests through the kitchens.

That's a slightly narrow corridor which is behind the back area.

So the guests were taken out from Chambers

and were being escorted out in batches

because we had staff as well as guests,

so in batches of ten.

I was in the centre of the corridor asking them to move on, move on,

cos they were elderly guests, there were young children,

there were ladies, and who wanted to be all in a group

and we wanted them to be out.

So we kept on saying, "Please, move it. Please, move it."

And they were being escorted out to the back of the hotel.

The first 30 guests protected by a human chain of staff

made their way through the kitchens.

Around 3.30, when we were going through

the process of evacuation...

I was at a corner.

I could hear gunshots, sudden gunshots and...

And just panic after that.

I was shot there where you see the green baskets.

This is where I fell.

When I got shot I didn't know.

This is the place where I was actually on my feet.

That's the area where I actually crawled down and got up

and my hand was shot.

I had a big entry wound from here.

I just turn around and the nearest door to me

was the entrance to my kitchen. I entered the kitchen.

I was lying down on the floor next to a small refrigerator.

And where nobody could see me from outside.

But there was a lot of firing from outside.

Yes, there were screams and wails of people.

And I could recognise a couple of voices of which whom I heard.

It kept on happening for about an hour. I was in touch with my wife.

I said, "There is firing happening outside, let's see what happens."

Then, I don't know.

"I love you, but don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

She just said, "Take care, whatever happens, let me know."

And then I didn't speak much because I didn't want to make much noise.

Around 4.30 I heard a voice. One of the terrorists had walked in.

He entered, he pointed the gun at me.

I couldn't do anything, I was just lying down.

He comes into the kitchen, and in broken English and Hindi,

asks me to stand up.

Asks me to go out of the kitchen.

There were two guests hiding over here, father and a son.

Then he asks, "What do you do?" I said, "I'm a chef, I cook."

So one of them said, I mean, I'll translate it in English,

they said, "OK, do it first, these are not the people whom we want."

Then they also asked, "Are you Hindu or are you Muslim?"

So, I said, "I am a Hindu." I mean, there is no harm in saying that.

So they asked us to lie down on our stomachs,

in that corridor, small corridor.

I was in the centre, the son was on the left,

and the father was on the right.

And then from behind, almost point-blank, they fired at us.

First thing was I got shot in my left leg, that broke,

and the second was like a strong punch in my stomach.

I could feel that. These two gentlemen were also shot.

I somehow kept quiet, because I was trying to catch my breath,

as these two gentlemen, they were shot again.

I somehow did not get shot again.

And then there was silence. There was nothing which happened after that.

The father and son had gone quiet. They were not moving.

They both passed away.

In the meantime, I called my wife, "I said, I am shot,

"but don't worry, I love you, I'll try to save myself."

Also, it never came to me that I'm going to die.

That thought came to me, "OK, what is death? Is this how a person dies?

"Is this how I am going to finish off

"after so many years of existence?"

But that was the only thought,

and then I kind of was trying to assess my damage.

I knew my leg was broken.

And then I realised that if I can think that much,

I might as well put that energy into saving myself!

Chef Ragu was eventually rescued.

The siege had lasted three days.

Across the city, 164 people died.

Of the 31 who lost their lives in the hotel, 11 were staff.

Most of them chefs.

It was a terrible shock for each and every person.

Because very young, young people died.

I lost about seven of them.

One of my senior-most executive chefs.

Plus six young chefs.

All of them died.

-I was on the same level...

-Other side.

-On the other side.

-476.

-Yes, and, er...

after the terrorist attack, no more hotels for a while...

so I went to live at their house and I slept on the couch...

and he and...he sleeps in one room, his wife and the kids

in the other and er...

it was fine, for me.

And I tried not to be a bother.

Time was not right to be or keep her anywhere in any hotels

-because everywhere it was scary.

-You never knew who was going...

And she was, herself, scared too and...

-..so...

-You looked after her.

-Yeah.

Though the terrorists had failed to destroy the hotel

it took 18 months to completely restore the building.

We came back very early in the new year in 2009.

We came back for a wedding. Mily felt that she couldn't

really handle being in the hotel so we went to the President Hotel.

-We stayed at the President.

-One night, I think.

But then we...then we didn't feel comfort... It was bizarre.

We felt that we really ought to be here.

We were, actually, not where we should be.

-You changed your mind?

-We changed our mind

because we felt that, you know, the staff had had a...

you know, an experience that was... absolutely as bad as we had had,

and, perhaps in many cases, much worse.

-And they'd come back.

-Yep.

-And, erm...

you know, they're friends... many of them, they're old friends

that we've known for years.

If you get hurt at home, you don't stop going home.

You don't do that.

This is a place where we have become men from boys.

I joined this place when I was 19 or 20...quite young.

It's been now 20 years I've been here.

I turn 40 next year.

So, you just don't stop coming here. I mean, I cross that area every day.

It makes me more stronger,

like, this is the place which has taught me what actual life is.

This is what...has given me the true meaning of life.

God has saved me from...from... from dying, for a reason,

and let me enjoy life and make it better for other people.

People connect themselves in all forms with this hotel.

And they are very emotional about it.

It's not just a hotel, it's an institution,

being existent for the last 110 years.

Good morning, everyone.

ALL: Morning.

And welcome again to, er, a very, very auspicious

and a wonderful occasion this morning.

Again to celebrate the birthday of...of our hotel.

You see, right from the time we joined this company...

..I think we have learnt only...

..that the guest is God.

I think the relationship with the hotel, for everyone,

is extremely emotional.

And, for the city of Mumbai, I think, still it stands as an icon.

Mumbai is The Taj, and Taj is the Mumbai, so...

I would just like to, you know, say that.