Event Round Up

City hoteliers convene solidarity and remembrance meet

Sayoni Bhaduri - Mumbai

Nearly three weeks after senseless attacks ravaged the flagship properties of the Taj and the Oberoi groups, as well as other structures in India's financial capital, concerned industry professionals got together to convene HOST - Hoteliers Oppose Senseless Terrorism - a remembrance meet where the industry expressed solidarity with those affected.

It also instituted a fund to provide scholarship to the kin of employees in the service industry involved in these attacks, thus informed S Shashidhar, convenor of HOST and head of food business at Citymax Hotels. Elaborating on the scholarship, Raj Kumar Saxena, principal of IHM Mumbai, said, "Families of all non-official members of the police, military and para-military forces will be eligible for this scholarship - part or full." He added that all contribution will be welcomed and appreciated.

A number of speakers addressed the gathering expressing their grief and views on 26/11. Vithal Kamat, CMD, Orchid Hotels, in his narrative, deeply felt that the staff at both the hotels proved that duty comes before self. "Such a terrorist act is obviously to weaken the nation as hospitality is an engine of economic growth. But we must pledge that we will never be defeated and will survive." He then emphasised the importance and the need of being alert and vigilant so that such acts can never be replicated and that courses in disaster management need to be a part of all hospitality curriculum. Snehal Kulshreshtha, senior VP (Hospitality), Kalpataru, gave voice to his sentiments through a poem.

Len D'Costa, former president, Piramal Group, said that hospitality has now become a means to ultimate sacrifice. "Service before self is the motto for NDA Khadakwasala. It has now become a living lesson for all in the industry. The events of 26/11 have been a rude awakening for all of us and have added a new chapter to the history of hospitality." Sudhir Andrews, dean of the upcoming Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa, said that the sacrifice of staff has raised the benchmark of customer service. "These brave defenders of hospitality have made the industry proud." He informed that his institute will offer scholarships to family members of the staff who died during the terror attacks.

Bhisham Mansukhani, a former employee of The Express Group and a media person, narrated a vivid first person account of his experience at the Taj hotel that night, saying that he owed his life to the exemplary courage shown by the hotel staff and the commandoes that night. Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, meanwhile took us back in time when he had joined the industry as a novice in Varanasi, where he had to ingenuously devise ways for self preservation from local thugs. "We can only empathise with those who were there fighting for their lives."

Meher Dasondi, head, HAFT- hospitality management course Sophia, Shri BK Somani Memorial Polytechinc, had 12 of her students present at the Taj at the time of the attacks, and tragically lost two of them. Rohit Khosla, general manager, Taj Lands End, reiterated that people that day showed the world what real hospitality means. "We need to inculcate and teach this art to the coming generation of professionals together with a focus in safety, security and disaster management," he said.

A special audio-visual presentation was put up by Manish Pandya of Trance Films and Dominic Costabir, director-Hospitality Training Institute and the session was concluded by a vote of thanks addressed by G Raghubalan, head of training - SK Brands, Citymax Hotels and convener of HOST.

Vithal Kamat	Sudhir Andrews	Sanjeev Kapoor
Snehal Kulshreshtha	G Raghubalan	Len D'Costa
Meher Dasondi	Raj Kumar Saxena	Rohit Khosla