The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was built by Ratan Tata’s great-grandfather Jamsetji Tata. The iconic building was among the five places targeted by the 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked India's commercial capital on November 26, 2008. In the bloodshed and mayhem that lasted four days, 166 people were killed and over 300 were injured. The other places targeted by the extremists were the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, another luxury hotel like Taj, Chabad House at Nariman Point, Leopold Cafe and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station.
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The Taj Mahal Palace hotel suffered losses worth over Rs 400 crore as the gunmen claimed several lives on its luxurius floors. However, living up to the legacy of the establishment that witnessed the growth of the "Maximum City", the employees of the hotel did everything they possibly could to save their guests from certain tragedy. Many of them refused to flee before ensuring their customers were far from danger. They asked the guest to hide under tables, and when the situation improved, they evacuated them in an orderly manner before turning to help the firefighters "If it (the hotel) goes down, I will be the last man out." a Taj employee famously told his father over the phone despite having lost his wife and child.
Ratan Tata, as expected, did his part in the days that followed. He visited his injured employees at hospitals and wholeheartedly embraced those who lost kith and kin to the violence.
Within two weeks of the attack, the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust was formed, reported Manorama Online. Sums ranging between Rs 36 lakhs to Rs 85 lakhs were handed over to the family of each Taj employee killed in the attack. These families were entitled to receive full salary until the date on which the late person was supposed to retire from service. Ratan Tata also ensured the children of his late employees received a good education, the report added.
The philanthropist was neverthless scarred by the terror attack. But he was proud about the way Mumbai recovered from its horrific memories.
"The wanton destruction that took place 12 years ago today will never be forgotten. But what is more memorable, is the way Mumbai as a diverse people came together, casting aside all differences, to vanquish the terrorism and destruction on that day. Today, we certainly can mourn the ones we lost and honour the sacrifice of the brave who helped conquer the enemy, but what we must applaud, is the unity and the acts of kindness and sensitivity which we should cherish, and which hopefully, will continue to shine in the years ahead," he jotted on Instagram on the 12th anniversary of the attack.
The following year, in 2021, he wrote, "The hurt we endured 13 years ago today, can never be undone. We should however continue to let the memory of the attacks, which were meant to break us, become the source of our strength as we honour those we lost."
