The sunlight streaming in through the glass panes outside the Ballroom at the Taj, is strong, making it difficult to view the Gateway of India and the many bobbing prows without shielding your eyes. It is a little before nine and people have just begun to come in. Each one, taking the stairs to the venue have done this many-a-time before. Some have been doing it for three decades, some for two, most at least for one. Yet, today was different. The occasion too was special. The edifice, which architect WA Stevens built for Jamshetji Tata for £500,000, which preceded The Gateway of India by 20 years and had opened its doors to its first 17 guests in 1903, was entering its centenary year. Certainly time to party.

Yet, this party was going to have a different theme. In keeping with the hotel’s tradition, the occasion would begin with a multi-religion prayer meet with priests representing Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism praying and blessing all there. Pride mixed with emotion as Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, present for the puja, said, "The Taj Mahal hotel owes its existence to the vision of Jamshetji Tata. Through its nearly 100 years of existence, it has managed to sustain the high standards for which it has gained recognition all over the world, and all of us in the Tatas are extremely proud that it is a part of the group."

The multi-religion prayer meet, says senior vice-president and COO, luxury division, Subhir Bhowmick, is a tradition which has been observed at the opening of each of their 60 hotels. Mr Bhowmick, who probably qualifies as one among the oldest employees with Indian Hotels with 35 years of service, has been present at most of them. Meanwhile, the soon-to-turn hundred years building is being given its last touches. The chipped mosaic tiles are being replaced, the arches sport a new look, the art gallery reinvents itself as a separate check-in lobby for the 291 rooms of the heritage wing as old-timers recall that at the turn of the century, the Taj Mahal’s electric lights, fans, bells and clocks and the four electric passenger lifts were considered true luxury!

"History too, has played its role in the life of the Taj. World War I saw the hotel being converted into a 600-bed hospital," recalls another old-timer as he adds a global list of the bold and beautiful that the hotel has played host to. From George Bernard Shaw to Irving Stone and Barbara Cartland; from Douglas Fairbanks to Sir Richard Attenborough to Baz Luhrmann; from Yehudi Menuhin to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Mick Jagger; Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles to Jacqueline Onassis and William Jefferson Clinton; David Rockefeller and Robert McNamara to Lord Wedgwood — the list is endless.