tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post3530368893554444399..comments2024-03-24T11:27:14.134-07:00Comments on Tales from the life of a palindrome: THE OTHER TAJ - A TRIBUTEViji Venkateshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08948425125788354069noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-43106030681016470922011-11-25T08:57:01.284-08:002011-11-25T08:57:01.284-08:00Thanks Viji, my dear. Thanks for this post. See yo...Thanks Viji, my dear. Thanks for this post. See you in our beloved Bombay in January. Clara (and Riccardo) from ItalyClarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11917091497307062173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-51346250811912145752009-02-26T09:42:00.000-08:002009-02-26T09:42:00.000-08:00You touched my heart!!!Your words infused life int...You touched my heart!!!<BR/>Your words infused life into a structure of mortar, brick and cement!!!<BR/><BR/><BR/>www.3madmoggies.blogspot.comGingerbread & Mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01603731440258584064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-51804078577670946242008-12-02T22:08:00.000-08:002008-12-02T22:08:00.000-08:00This is indeed very sad that such beautiful and ma...This is indeed very sad that such beautiful and magnificient work of art was destroyed :( My visit to Taj Hotel was one of the highlights of my 1st trip to Mumbai in 2005. Hope they can restore the place soon.<BR/><BR/>Nice of you to write a tribute.Neliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12167389571525317828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-32016811532248368552008-12-02T09:42:00.000-08:002008-12-02T09:42:00.000-08:00Ive been to the Taj just once (with Sonal, when sh...Ive been to the Taj just once (with Sonal, when she had come here!)...the one thing I remember was how polite and courteous the staff were in spite of the fact that I was at my dishevelled best...not something one experiences at most 5 star hotels...<BR/><BR/>And now everyday I read about how helpful and self-sacrificing they were even during a crisis such as this one...somehow, to me, these actions were far more symbolic of Taj than the building itself...Amoghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12743699352175656923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-35396022173240880192008-12-01T04:27:00.000-08:002008-12-01T04:27:00.000-08:00Dearest Viji, YOU are no less amazing than the Taj...Dearest Viji, YOU are no less amazing than the Taj! How on Earth do you find the time to write such beautiful stuff, after all that you do? I hereby commit right now to going to the Taj with you, once it is re-opened.Beena Narayananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16224263645021987436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-48408707428655838912008-12-01T01:53:00.000-08:002008-12-01T01:53:00.000-08:00I HAVE NO WORDS TO SAY..BUT TOO MUCH IN GRIEF,, I ...I HAVE NO WORDS TO SAY..BUT TOO MUCH IN GRIEF,, I M JUST PRAYING FOR ALL THE INNOCENT PEOPLE AND OUR BRAVE OFFICERS WHO LAID THEIR LIVES FOR US TO LIVE IN PEACE...I CRIED EVERY SCENE I SAW ON TV.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06617886385029433340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-81743989044398390062008-12-01T01:44:00.000-08:002008-12-01T01:44:00.000-08:00The first time I came to Bombay (during my engagem...The first time I came to Bombay (during my engagement with Shilpa)...I had gone out for a small sight-seeing trip of Bombay. I hadn't seen the Gateway of India & wanted to go there first...When I reached there I was actually disappointed. The Gateway wasn't as majestic as I thought it to be. <BR/><BR/>We then boarded a boat which would take us to the Elephanta Caves. And then...when the boat started moving slowly into the sea...I saw the "Taj Mahal of Mumbai....!!" <BR/><BR/>What a sight..!! I'm a sucker for great architectures. And this one was awesome..!! I kept looking at it till it went out of sight. But it never went out of mind. This architecture stuck in my mind just like the "Taj Mahal of Agra".<BR/><BR/>Thank god it didn't crumble like the JW Marriot in Pakistan. I know it would be restored. But the "scar" would take time to heal....!!Rajeev Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16546850388732274417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-74223985298425912142008-11-29T23:56:00.000-08:002008-11-29T23:56:00.000-08:00It is soo sad it burnt the way it did. I have seen...It is soo sad it burnt the way it did. I have seen the Taj only once-when i was too young to remember. My parents visited it last year when they toured Mumbai...and i said i'll stay back home. I guess that was a big mistake...but im sure that one day, Taj will regain all that it has lost. I trust that thought. A very moving and touching peice, and powerful and honest writing.Lakshmi Bharadwajhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03212991591359341995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-72845439087018822872008-11-29T06:19:00.000-08:002008-11-29T06:19:00.000-08:00Dear Viji,Thank you for this tribute - it made me ...Dear Viji,<BR/><BR/>Thank you for this tribute - it made me even more homesick than ever. Three weeks ago my friend Danny and I were in the Sea Lounge having a drink (this after a trip to Mondegar and then a walk past Leopold's). <BR/><BR/>How terrible this is.<BR/><BR/>To Bombay!<BR/><BR/>Cheers, IrfanIrfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17855416545633590347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-8999153648598025452008-11-29T02:11:00.000-08:002008-11-29T02:11:00.000-08:00That was a beautiful vignette you put together Vij...That was a beautiful vignette you put together Viji, a sepia-tinted walk down memory lane with the charming Old Lady of Apollo Bunder.<BR/><BR/>Yes indeed, this wonderfully iconic monument has been part of our lives, a silent sentinel to our years of lightning, and now our days of thunder.<BR/><BR/>I remember the time in the late Eighties, when I worked as pathologist at Northcote Nursing Home on Ormiston Road , and was often called upon to draw the blood of indisposed guests at the Taj for laboratory investigations, among them celebrities like the beautiful Maharani Gayatri Devi .<BR/><BR/>Like Zed, I too have fond memories of that day we spent together in the meandering environs of south Bombay,culminating at the Sea Lounge where I was moved enough to scribble verse on the paper serviettes as we sipped our chilled liquid refreshments.<BR/><BR/>May this gracious lady ,the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, rise again like a phoenix to future glory !<BR/><BR/>- Jude Winston VazUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04827242051665496721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-8017252391223569852008-11-28T22:37:00.000-08:002008-11-28T22:37:00.000-08:00I felt all that idolizing of the Taj by the media ...I felt all that idolizing of the Taj by the media was pure BS and that it was nothing but another old hotel... I think my view has changed for the better now... Thanks...IIM ka Sarkari Babuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07570467306859772979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-20614919356927122532008-11-28T21:34:00.000-08:002008-11-28T21:34:00.000-08:00Eloquent and heart-felt, and I would have expected...Eloquent and heart-felt, and I would have expected nothing less from the amazing Viji Venkatesh, a Goddess of the Universe.<BR/><BR/>And, You and I too, Viji, have gone to the Taj's Sea Lounge for chai and dessert, after a most peaceful afternoon of meandering through Colaba; after lunch at Cafe Samovar and our early explorations of the Sassoon Library, where you subsequently became a member...<BR/><BR/>Memories. Just one of a few from a life, in such a special place.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00651838052834189348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-37191850502925835332008-11-28T18:10:00.000-08:002008-11-28T18:10:00.000-08:00And Raji we saw Ratan Tata walk down to the water'...And Raji we saw Ratan Tata walk down to the water's edge at the Gateway as we stood there drinking in the beauty .....remember ?Vijihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14238730436295766322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2694353460784510338.post-59367220763337781992008-11-28T16:50:00.000-08:002008-11-28T16:50:00.000-08:00Very moving. I remember that you took me too there...Very moving. I remember that you took me too there as part of an unofficial tour of Bombay, and how you told me its history.RAJI MUTHUKRISHNANhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09767924355822361427noreply@blogger.com