H.O.S.T.

Hoteliers Oppose Senseless Terrorism
The recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai have left everybody shaken – and stirred. Emotions range from helpless incredulity to absolute rage. Every one of us wants to do something. Every one of us wants to be heard. Every one of us wants with all our hearts that something like this should never happen again.
The terrorists have not just attacked Mumbai. They have attacked India. They have attacked our way of life and who we are. It is as though extreme marauders have just entered our homes and looted with impunity. They have killed our kin. They have killed our Guests. They would have razed to ground proud edifices that identify and define Mumbai to the world. Closer home to all of us who live, work and breathe the Hospitality Business, they have defiled our icons and killed our friends and colleagues.
Hoteliers and Restaurateurs are by nature peaceful, sensitive, creative and caring people. How often do we hear – “The Guest is Always Right”, “Atithi Devo Bhava” and ofcourse, that famous line, “In this business, leave your ego at home” ? Even in the midst of this senseless tragedy, our friends at the Taj and at The Oberoi (I just cannot call that hotel by any other name, forgive me), have done us proud. They disregarded the terror. They set aside their fears. They continued to serve. Their only focus was on ensuring that their Guests were shepherded to safety. They focus was also to ensure that their Guests were properly looked after – even in the middle of all that mayhem.
We owe these proud and dedicated professionals a 21-gun salute. We owe them the ultimate honour. We owe them our sense of pride in our heritage and tradition as professional Hoteliers. We owe the martyrs (and those who came away alive) a standing ovation for their magnificent performance in an unprecedented crisis. We owe them a sincere and combined ex-pression of our grief and of our solidarity.
A few of us, here in Mumbai, have got together to organise H.O.S.T. – a solidarity and remembrance meet of all Hoteliers and Restaurateurs. Mr. Raj Kumar Saxena, Principal, IHM Mumbai has very graciously agreed to allow the Institute premises to be used as the Venue for this meet. Senior Industry Leaders and Influencers– Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Mr. Len D’costa, Mr. M. S. Ram, Snehal Kulshreshtha, G. Raghubalan, Dominic Costabir and several others have immediately and unstintingly offered help and participation to ensure that this becomes a meaningful gathering of hospitality professionals.
Our agenda is simple. We gather to take stock. We gather to grieve. We gather to express solidarity with our friends at the Taj and the Oberoi. We gather to seek contributions to fund an educational scholarship which will allow the Institute to offer free education to children of employees in those Services which have participated directly and actively in this war time engagement.
We seek support for our efforts from all our friends and colleagues. Please help us with your personal involvement and active participation ? Spread this message. Be there on the 17th. Contribute generously.