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Today is India’s Independence Day, a national holiday on which the country celebrates its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation. All across the country there will be flag-raising ceremonies and patriotic speeches.
Today is also the day on which the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai will be officially reopened after it was extensively damaged by a terrorist attack in November 2008 in which 167 people were killed and many others injured.
In the days when I was usefully and gainfully employed, I made a number of trips to India and it was a country I came to love very much. Despite some of its squalid areas, it is a wonderful, vibrant country full of amazingly varied sights and sounds. And, as might be expected, I enjoyed its food. Its people are extremely energetic and it is no surprise that those Indians who emigrated subsequently prospered by their efforts.
I have many fond memories of my visits to India.
On this day I shall recall a visit to the Red Fort in the walled city of Old Delhi, capital of the Moguls until the last emperor was exiled by the British in 1857. In celebration of the day the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, will raise the national flag above its ramparts and deliver a speech which will be broadcast nationally.
And I shall fondly remember also my visits to the Taj Hotel, opened in 1905 and still one of the world’s grandest of hotels. Of stays in the old, colonial-style part and also of stays in the ultramodern tower that was added in the 70’s. I shall remember the warm greeting given to guests on arrival by one of the saluting doorman, the beautiful sari-clad staff and the general air of courtesy and charm of every employee there.
There are many other things I shall be reminded of today.
Chief of these will be to remember the many friends I made during my visits there.
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Today is India’s Independence Day, a national holiday on which the country celebrates its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation. All across the country there will be flag-raising ceremonies and patriotic speeches.
Today is also the day on which the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai will be officially reopened after it was extensively damaged by a terrorist attack in November 2008 in which 167 people were killed and many others injured.
In the days when I was usefully and gainfully employed, I made a number of trips to India and it was a country I came to love very much. Despite some of its squalid areas, it is a wonderful, vibrant country full of amazingly varied sights and sounds. And, as might be expected, I enjoyed its food. Its people are extremely energetic and it is no surprise that those Indians who emigrated subsequently prospered by their efforts.
I have many fond memories of my visits to India.
On this day I shall recall a visit to the Red Fort in the walled city of Old Delhi, capital of the Moguls until the last emperor was exiled by the British in 1857. In celebration of the day the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, will raise the national flag above its ramparts and deliver a speech which will be broadcast nationally.
And I shall fondly remember also my visits to the Taj Hotel, opened in 1905 and still one of the world’s grandest of hotels. Of stays in the old, colonial-style part and also of stays in the ultramodern tower that was added in the 70’s. I shall remember the warm greeting given to guests on arrival by one of the saluting doorman, the beautiful sari-clad staff and the general air of courtesy and charm of every employee there.
There are many other things I shall be reminded of today.
Chief of these will be to remember the many friends I made during my visits there.
.
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