Hyderabad, October 23: Masala dosa, onion dosa, rava dosa, idli, vada, upma… Who hasn’t been subjected to this rattatat reading of the menu in an Udupi hotel?
One might walk into the hotel already having decided what to order, yet you ask the waiter “What’s there?” Waiters at the Taj Mahal Hotel show no trace of impatience while reeling off the dishes available even if after the whole rigmarole, the customers ask for idli. That’s the Taj Mahal Hotel, every man’s first eating out experience.
For those of you who are not aware of the Taj Mahal hotel, there is a strong reason why a person from the city might refuse to consider you a fellow ‘Hyderabadi’.
For, this hotel was established way before the city was even recognised by the Indian Constitution. More importantlty, it has retained its popularity all through these six decades.
“I am a regular customer to the hotel since 1956” says M Krishna Prem, a retired employee of SBI speaking about the Taj Mahal hotel at Abids. “I used to work at the SBI branch at Koti. I would frequently visit the hotel to have Masala Dosa and coffee. It has been many years since I retired and I still come here regularly all the way from Panjagutta,” he says.
Nobody knows why this hotel established by three men from Udupi town in Karnataka, was named ‘Taj Mahal’. “I think it was named after the Agra monument with no other connotation to it,” tells Anil Rao, manager of the newly-opened Taj Delite in SR Nagar.
He narrates how his grandfather Babu Rao and his brother Sundar Rao who came in search of employment to the city from a small village called Mananguli near Udupi eventually set up the hotel 60 years ago.
“My grandfather worked in many hotels doing odd jobs. Later he began to sell food in a cart. Much after that the two brothers partnered with Anand Rao, the owner of the popular Anand Bhavan. When Anand Bhavan was sold Babu Rao and Sundar Rao set up the Taj Mahal hotel in Secunderabad.”
Presently, the hotel chain is being managed by the third generation from the Rao’s who initially set up the hotel. Each hotel in the chain is managed by a cousin or a brother.
Though Sundar Rao and his brother hailed from Udupi, most of their grandchildren who are now the managers of the chain, have been born and brought up in Hyderabad.“So, is there a secret recipe for each cuisine that has been passed on to every generation?”Anil laughs in response to this and tells that there is no such secret recipe.
Jagadish Rao, proprietor of Belsons Taj in Secunderabad tells that the hotel has undergone a makeover in terms of the decor and the cuisine according to the fast-changing tastes of people. Earlier we served only South Indian food but now we have included North Indian dishes as well. Anil points out that there is a slight variation in taste in each of their hotels catering to customer preference in that locality. For example, the ‘sambar’ in Abids is a bit spicy compared to the one in Secunderabad while the newly opened restaurant in SR Nagar serves the traditional Chennai Sambar, he explains.
When asked about what has made the hotel pull through these six decades despite tough competition, Anil attributes it to the staff who has been with them for three decades or more and adds that even during times of financial crunch they never compromised on their standards.
The competitors to us now are the KFC, MC Donald and the like who can easily draw the young crowd. But we will be able to perform well among all this, says a confident Anil Rao who wants to establish the hotel chain in other cities, too.
At the newly-inaugurated Taj Delite too, one is subjected to the customary rattling-off of the menu but with the variation of a globalisation-affected version. chocolate dosa, dry fruit dosa, banana dosa …
–Agencies