Shobha Ramswamy

Rajiv Gujral earned his spurs while helping bring the Taj Bengal to life. But heading the Taj's international division has been the greater responsibility for this lover of arts and crafts

Rajiv Gujral is a man on the move, literally and figuratively. The chief executive officer and senior vice president of Indian Hotels’ international division, he travels for an average of 21 days every month, crisscrossing continents to visit the company’s properties and explore business opportunities.

These are encouraging days for Indian Hotels, owners of the renowned Taj Group, and its international division, which has fared admirably in conditions that have been far from kind to the hospitality industry. Mr Gujral can claim some of the credit for the uplifting state of affairs.

In this freewheeling conversation with Shobha Ramswamy, he shares his experiences as a member of the Taj family and sheds light on its ambitions in the global market.

Kitchen start
I joined Indian Hotels in 1973 as a management trainee. It started with six months of training in a kitchen and an additional three months of training as a chef. I was quite surprised by this beginning, since I had no knowledge or skills in these areas. On my first day in the job, I arrived at Shamiana [the coffee shop at the Mumbai Taj] in suit and tie, expecting some kind of an office within the restaurant. Instead, I found everyone in uniform — completely amused by my attire.

Initially, the kitchen was a challenge. When the restaurant manager asked for a certain dish or ingredient, more often than not I had no idea what it looked like. I learned by constantly questioning the chef. Before long I donned the chef’s uniform myself and came to know kitchen operations like the back of my hand. Later, I was rotated within the various departments of the hotel. This allowed me to learn and understand the hospitality business minutely. My training prepared me for a lifetime in this industry.

Eastward bound
After completing my training I joined sales. Within 11 months I took over as the regional sales manager of the eastern region. Kolkata was an underdeveloped territory then. We did not even have a proper office there. In fact, we received and sent our telex messages from a nearby business centre. But the potential was immense.

It was during this time that the idea of Taj Bengal was mooted. The land for the project had already been acquired when we ran into an environmental problem. The site happened to be in the path for some migratory birds. The general perception was that the building would disrupt the flight path of these birds. Prime minister Indira Gandhi wrote to our chairman,
J. R. D. Tata, regarding the issue. That’s when he paid us a visit.

I remember Mr Tata, unmindful of the scorching summer sun, rolling up his sleeves, undoing a couple of shirt buttons and checking the site thoroughly. We got a well-known ornithologist from Hyderabad to study the flight path of the birds. We discovered that over the site the birds would be flying at 120 feet, whereas the hotel itself would rise to just 85 feet. The court rejected the public interest litigation in the matter and allowed construction to proceed.

Pride of Bengal
Taj Bengal was built on almost 4 acres of land at Alipore. Adjacent to the site there was a drain that overflowed during the rains, and the access road to the hotel was narrow. The place required a lot of work. Firstly, we planned the traffic for the area. Then we got the government to widen the road as well as create space for car parking. We cleaned out the offending drain and we planted a lot of trees to hide it from the hotel. We planted close to 1.25 lakh trees in the vicinity and, to avoid water logging, we had pipes up to 2-3 km around the hotel changed.

We chose a colonial style of architecture for the building. To encourage local arts and crafts we used a lot of terracotta within. The recruitment was done systematically. We approached schools and colleges and selected candidates with good communications skills. They were recruited two years before the hotel was actually inaugurated. In the meantime, we focused on training and instilling Tata values in the candidates.

Leadership is not only about providing vision and direction, but also about developing good qualities in your staff. I believe that you won’t have too many worries if your employees are happy. Within the Taj Bengal we had a single canteen for all employees, irrespective of rank. All problems were heard within 24 hours. In fact, any employee could walk into my office at any time with any problem. Women leaving the hotel after eight were dropped home. Imagine, in Kolkata, where labour problems thrive, we had none.

Crossing boundaries
I have been in my current position since 1998. I have been handling the operations of our 10 hotels abroad, acquiring new properties, and identifying and finalising strategic investors. We set up Taj Asia by bringing in strategic investors. We signed a management contract for the first five-star hotel in Dubai, the Taj Palace. The repositioning of Taj Exotica, Maldives, resulted in the resort receiving global acclaim within six months of opening. The Sri Lanka properties, too, have been reworked financially and image-wise.

The opportunities are immense, especially in South East Asia (in places such as Phuket and Bali), China, Tunisia, Malta and Qatar. Recently, we entered into a tripartite joint venture with the Conservation Corporation Africa and the Chaudhury Group of Nepal. The focus here is on wildlife tourism within the hospitality business, the standout feature being the ‘walking safari’. Guests can enjoy extended morning and pre-sunset walks as well as nighttime drives. They live in luxurious tents, flushing toilets and hot showers included, right in the wilderness. The Taj should benefit immensely from this venture.

Arty passion
Since I travel extensively, I spend all of my free time with my family. I am passionate about traditional arts and crafts, an interest kindled during my Taj Bengal days, and I’ve done a lot of research on this subject. The Bengal state government has granted me some land on which I hope to build an arts and crafts village. This should help revive a dying industry.

Uploaded on August 4, 2003