“Namaste” Is More Than A Greeting

Millet, Chai, 2000 Rupees, Eatable Welcome Gifts.

Concierges Who Created A New Standard.

Visiting The 28 States Of India- In One Exhibition Hall

From the moment of arrival to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in Delhi, India (Bharat), late in the evening of 5 September 2023, the magic that beckons from the world’s largest country by population commences its process of absorption.  Like two enormous hands forming a cup- offering itself for exploration… and then dive right in.

For the 2023 G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India (2014- ), there are two nights at the Taj Palace Hotel- a landmark property where encamped were the delegations from Brasil and China.

• NOTE: Arriving late in the evening to the Taj Palace Hotel, upon the bed a bounty of red balloons.  On a table in front of the window, under a silver dome is a cake- a birthday cake.  That they knew is why the Taj Palace Hotel is the Taj Palace Hotel.

For the five following nights, the Taj Mahal Hotel, a majestic presence with a personal connection, where the delegation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) encamped in 212 rooms of property’s 213 rooms.  The G20 Leaders’ Summit delegation was ensconced in sixteen hotels across Delhi and New Delhi.

• NOTE: In November 2022, days prior to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali, Indonesia, while en route from the United States to India, there was an issue on board the aircraft with the power connector for a laptop.  From the aircraft, contacted by email the concierge team at the Taj Mahal Hotel.  Instructed to send along images (model and serial number) of the connector.  Upon arrival to the hotel late in the evening, the concierge team was waiting with a replacement connector- in a sealed package from Amazon.  To this day, how that was accomplished remains astonishing.

• NOTE: Have visited previously the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi (which hosted the G20 Leaders’ Summit delegations from South Korea, Turkiye, and Russian Federation).  A terrific property.  And have visited these other amazing properties: Agra - The Oberoi Amarvilas; Jaipur - The Oberoi Rajvilas; Ranthambhore - The Oberoi Vanyavilas Wildlife Resort; Shimla - Wildflower Hall, An Oberoi Resort; and Udaipur - The Oberoi Udaivilas.

Everyone connected with the G20 Leaders’ Summit was treated as a special guest not only of the government of India, but of the citizens of India.  Officials and management of companies interacting with delegations knew, as have their counterparts at previous G20 Leaders’s Summits, that, quite literally, they have seventy-two hours where “the world” is viewing, listening, and reading about India.  It’s the global marketing equivalent of several billion dollars.

Outside of engagements with the heads of state, heads of government, and heads of delegations, the most important audience was media.  And the government of India and companies in India engaged robustly and creatively.

The Hotels

The hotels treated each guest as equal.  No one was to feel out-of-place or less-than.  There was no overt magnetism towards the VIPS (actually, the form used was VVIPS) while leaving those wanting who did not have a security detail.

At the Taj Palace Hotel, where the G20 Finance Ministers were meeting, there were two counters- one with a server crafting Masala Chai the traditional way- grinding spices, boiling down in water, adding milk, boiling down, resulting in a fragrant, mildly spicy beverage- an addictive beverage.  No instant anything here.  Nearby, a counter with a server crafting coffee- boiling the coffee in a copper kettle and boiling milk in an adjacent copper kettle.  Combining individually for a rich, velvety brew served in a metal cup.  Watching the careful, artistic processes becomes nearly hypnotic as a guest anticipates their serving.

Also at the Taj Palace Hotel- a restaurant within a replica of a dining car from the famed Orient Express Train.  The seating was immensely comfortable.  If there was a sleeping car replica- one might remain aboard.

The Taj Mahal Hotel is a very special place.  From the outside it looks special- regal, particularly at night.  One enters the property perhaps as a stranger.  One is within the property as a guest, but more so.  As someone who is invited to a home for dinner rather than to a restaurant.

There was one word and one phrase that was absent from the vocabulary among the managers, concierge team members, restaurant servers, housekeeping staff, pool attendants, greeters and security officers at the property gates and entrances, and transportation operators… The word was “no” and the phrase was “not possible.”

A word often repeated is “we” as in “we will take care of it” and “we will help” and “how may we help you…”

Require the vehicle now.  No problem.  Require the vehicle at 3:00 am.  No problem.  Laundry available twenty-four hours a day.

The Taj Club on the eighth floor of the Taj Mahal Hotel is an oasis of style… breakfast, high tea, dinner…. Every evening a new creation- elegantly served by the best-dressed serving team!  The jackets and shoes are singularly worth the visit.  And they remember- not what a guest may have ordered that day or the day before- but days previous.

There is a projection that learning how to provide a service and then providing that service is a skill to be appreciated; a craft to be refined again and again.  There is an effort.  A subtle elegance to each interaction.

During the days leading up to and the days immediately following the G20 Leaders’ Summit, many of those employed by hotels were themselves guests at the hotels.  This was primarily due to the security constraints that impacted local travel, but also so that the hotels could navigate the twenty-four-hour schedules of the delegations.

Given 100% occupancy along with multiple delegation-related events, impressive that servers in the very busy mornings at the Capital Kitchen restaurant at the Taj Palace Hotel would remember what a guest ordered from a menu or selected from a buffet… two days prior.  And given the open kitchen, servers would engage with guests and explain about a particular dish- and offer a taste.

• NOTE: On each floor of the Taj Palace Hotel, near the elevators, was on an easel a poster describing with visuals what times in the morning were Quiet Period (7:30 am to 8:30 am), Moderately Busy (8:30 am to 9:30 am), and Extremely Busy (9:30 am to 10:30 am).  Although the poster included a note about slippers and shorts not being permitted, the managers were seen to be forgiving.

At the Taj Mahal Hotel guests received 2023 G20 Leaders’ Summit welcome gifts- including one presentation that was eatable…. And was eaten- and rather quickly so.

Wishful Thinking…. That the hotels in New Delhi who hosted delegations will include in their restaurant menu the feast that was created for the 300 guests invited to the dinner at the venue, Bharat Mandapam, hosted by Droupadi Murmu, President of India (Bharat):

• Jackfruit galette with glazed forest mushrooms; little millet crisp and curry leaf tossed Kerala red rice.  Paatram (A Breath of Fresh Air) comprising foxtail millet leaf crisps topped with a yoghurt sphere and spiced chutney which contains milk, wheat, and nuts.  The breads were Mumbai Pao (onion seed flavored soft bun) and Bakarkhani (a cardamom flavored sweet flat bread containing milk, sugar, and wheat).  Cardamom scented barnyard millet pudding.

The International Media Center

Delegates, guests, and media representatives received gifts- special backpacks (with the G20 logo) loaded with food products, reading materials, and writing instruments.

Feeding more than 1,500 visitors breakfast (6:00 am to 9:00 am), lunch (12:00 pm to 3:00 pm), and dinner (6:00 pm to 9:00 pm) for two days along with throughout each day coffee/tea/snack stations located on two floors- and doing all efficiently and at a superior quality, was a challenge met and conquered.  And there was not one buffet table, there were eight very long buffet tables with each one under the supervision of managers and servers.

Among the preparers and servers were students from a culinary academy- certainly an experience they will likely not repeat as they graduate and are employed by companies in the food service industry- or go onward to open their own restaurants.

Brilliant was not only having a placard identifying each food, but an explanation and image as to where from India the dish originated along with its nutritional data.  And, not to be missed…. Serving stations for Masala Chai.

High speed wireless and cables connections were available for use.  On each table were laptops for use as well- a very useful tool for multitasking- which almost everyone did.

A useful Telegram Channel was created for the G20 Leaders’ Summit.  Unfortunately, it was deactivated at the conclusion of the summit.  There was also a useful G20 Leaders’ Summit application that was and remains operational.

A suggestion:  As there were many media representatives remaining in New Delhi on the day following the conclusion of the G2- Leaders’ Summit, the government of India might have offered a special day excursion to Agra, the location of the Taj Mahal.

The Art, Craft, Food, And Display Exhibition

A few minute’s walk from the International Media Center, the government of India invited enterprises representing the twenty-eight states of India to not only display their products and their services, but to demonstrate how some are created.  There were many female representatives.  There was a master pottery artist forging his creations with a pottery wheel.  There was a thread weaver demonstrating the process in the same way that Mahatma Ghandhi did nearing one hundred years ago. 

There was a large presence from Yule Tea, the government of India-owned company with more than 14,000 employees.  With visitors offered a variety of teas.  There were the representatives of the Ministry of Industry of India displaying coffee- showing the raw beans, roasted beans, processed, beans, and packaged beans.  Along with, of course, samples.

Yes, a visitor could purchase items- garments, artwork, food products (spices, teas, coffees, snacks, etc.).  Yet, a visitor was more likely to be offered something as a gift simply for visiting.  The representatives seemed genuinely satisfied from engaging in a conversation about their enterprise, where they were from, asking questions about their guest- and then offering something to the guest.  The representatives of each enterprise created individual experiences for every visitor.  It was not shopping, it was an educational experience- like going to school- or summer camp.  All of the fun and no homework.

The most surprising opportunity was learning about the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) application.  Representatives of IDFC First Bank toured the exhibition inviting visitors to download the application- not needing to link it to any personal account.  The application would be automatically provided 2,000 Rupees (approximately US$24.00) to spend as the visitor desired- then, or later.  An incredibly cleaver means for the government of India to reinforce one of Prime Minister Modi’s G20 focus- digitalization and the electronic use of payment systems which may benefit under-developed countries and developing countries.

G20 Leader’s Summit In Rio de Janeiro In 2024

On 1 December 2023, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of the Federative Republic of Brazil (2023- ), accepts the one-year leadership of the G20.

India, the world’s largest country by population, hosted the 2023 G20 Leaders’ Summit.  Brazil, the world’s seventh-largest country by population, is hosting the 2024 G20 Leaders’ Summit. 

President Lula da Silva will preside at the G20 Leaders’s Summit in Rio de Janeiro.  President Lula and his team will be challenged to match the atmospherics of New Delhi…

LINK TO COMPLETE ANALYSIS IN PDF FORMAT