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Mumbai Is Getting Back in Business
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"It is the pride of the city and an important historic landmark," said Abha Bahl, co-founder of the Bombay Heritage Walks. "The facade reflects the spirit of the city, the coming together of so many cultural influences. And it stood strong against the terror attack. Like the Taj, we will not fall."
Historians say the Taj shaped the social life of the city over the past century by introducing the country's first air-conditioned ballroom and first Turkish bath, as well as chamber music and live jazz. Many meetings during India's freedom movement were held there, and even Mahatma Gandhi addressed meetings at the Taj.
A number of the city's heritage and conservation planners want to set up a panel to work on the restoration of the heavily damaged Taj. A celebrated conservation architect, Chetan Raikar, is likely to be part of the team. This week, renowned artist M.F. Husain -- whose paintings adorned the hotel's lobby, which was destroyed -- announced that he would paint for the hotel again.
The author of a forthcoming book on the hotel's past, Sharda Dwivedi, said its intricately carved wooden railings, ballroom, suites and bar have been gutted.
"The Taj is not just a hotel, it is a living museum. So many of the very, very valuable and antique crystals, exquisite chandeliers, porcelains, lithographs, maps, carpets, furniture and contemporary art from around the world have gone," she said. "And what is absolutely irreplaceable is the sentiment, the memories attached to those."
Bhatt, the filmmaker, disputes that the burning of the Taj was the defining moment of pain for all Mumbaikars. He called the hotel a "temple of affluence" and said this was the first time the city's rich had been targeted.
"Let us not forget that there are many Mumbais within Mumbai. The Taj's damage is of no relevance to hundreds of thousands of people in the city. It is the rich people's 9/11," he said. "But the city has seen far worse -- when hundreds were butchered in Hindu-Muslim riots and when local trains blew up in the 2006 bombings. And Mumbai has found the strength each time."
