CELEBRATIONS -- 12:

WELCOMING 2017 AT TAJ SAVOY OOTY

BY P S SUNDAR

Three aspects stood out at the 2017 New Year eve celebrations at Taj Savoy Hotel, Ooty – adaptability to India’s new economy, eco-friendly theme through bread and salad display and employee families’ inclusiveness in celebrations.

Since the demonetisation of some currencies on November 8, 2016, business has not been usual for all sectors including the hospitality and sufferings worsened with cash-crunch followed by excessive monitoring of bank accounts by tax authorities.  Hotels are known to work on less cash (though not totally cashless!) systems but ‘travel less’ attitude of people definitely hits their business.  To that extent, managements passed through uncertainties in deciding on New Year celebrations.

It was, therefore, refreshing that tourists and residents welcomed 2017 with enthusiasm in the Nilgiris on December 31, 2016 night.  Churches were tastefully illuminated and Christians attended midnight mass braving biting cold as temperature nosedived to 5 degrees Celsius in Coonoor and Ooty. Hotels threw up dance and dining facilities to tourists who included foreigners.

“Although our business has always been card-oriented, demonetisation and cash crunch caused lot of uncertainties last one month as people, including foreigners refrained from travelling and cancelled bookings.  However, tourist inflow peaked just before New Year making the celebrations a big hit”, P Vibhakar, General Manager Taj Savoy Ooty told me.

To make the event memorable, Vibhakar’s team put up a well-organised music and dancing get-together under the protected cover of colourful shamiana with DJ and MC.  

The team members ensured the comfort of the guests, mostly tourists from other parts of the country and staying at Savoy.  

There was red-hot raw fire oven-tray to keep the enclosure warm.

The facade and the heritage buildings’ edges were tastefully illuminated to bring cheerful light to all in the New Year.

There were many games and competitions for which prizes were liberally given which included free stay at many Taj hotels.   All – elders, men, women and children – had something to keep themselves engaged while welcoming 2017.

Vibhakar is known to promote employee interests by projecting their contributions and taking a ‘supportive platform’ role.   He exhibited another dimension to this by inviting the families of departmental heads to join the New Year celebrations creating an-inclusive ambience for those who can.   The family members who attended were thrilled to see the happenings themselves resulting in a greater appreciation of the work done by their own kith as employee of Savoy. They joined in wishing other employees and guests ‘a very happy 2017’.

Vibhakar’s another landmark for the occasion came in the form of theme-oriented feast.   “Wilfred is a third-generation baker chef from Ooty.  So, we used him to develop an exhibition of bread verities for this celebration.  We chose eco-friendliness as the theme for our bread salad display”, he told me.

“We prepared the breads with hand-made shapes of sun, moon, earth, river and forms of nature”, Savoy Executive Chef Nisi Kant Panigrahi said.

“There are as many as 20 varieties of bread in display here – rum and resin, regular focassia, panini, ginger bread, garlic, oregano, rosemary and olive, lavash, water melon seeds, white and blue sesame, regular bread sticks, sesame bread sticks, bread rolls, ginger and thyme, cumin, whole wheat, multigrain, sugar-bread, butter-bread and oats”, he detailed.

The salad display also evoked keen interest among visitors.   “We have created a ‘Nilgiri Vegetable market’ for eco-friendly and garden-fresh salad experience”, Chef Nisi Kant told me.

“On display here are 15 varieties of salads and they have been split into 10 vegetarian and 5 non-vegetarian preparations.  We provide a unique experience with 10 varieties of dressings – Spanish, mustard, Mexican , Thousand Islands, Brazilian, Oriental garlic, Indian tamarind, Singapore milk cream, Honey lemon and Honey chilli”, he detailed.

The dinner spread itself was exhaustive.   “Overall, six starters, five varieties of cheese, two soups, 8 vegetarian, 5 non-vegetarian, 6 rice accompaniments and 8 desserts besides the bread and salad displays mark our New Year eve dinner”, Nisi Kant said.

And, when the clock struck 12 .. after the 10 second count-down, “Happy New Year” rent the air all over Savoy.    Everyone was seen wishing every other, creating an overall satisfaction among the guests and concomitantly marking the success for Vibhakar’s team in organising yet another grand show ..

HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2017 !! 

     

 (response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)