Friday, September 27, 2013

Visit to Taj Falaknuma Palace

In the course of my office work I wouldn’t ever expect to visit the Taj Falaknuma Palace but last week I was there on work which was something of a minor miracle. I had been eager to check out the place ever since I read about the TFP in Conde Nast Traveller and seen some of the pictures in it.

There are several places in Hyderabad I haven’t been to due to various reasons. Some of these places are where I cannot afford to go. One such place was Taj Falaknuma Palace where I wouldn’t have any business as a government employee. But there I was driving up to the TFP along with my boss last week. Someone from the Aga Khan Foundation wanted to talk to my boss so I tagged along. I hadn’t expected TFP to take my breath away.

Located on a hillock, up a sweeping a drive, the magnificent palace has a bird’s eye view of the city that you cannot get from anywhere else. The palace itself is regal and the Taj Group has refurbished it so well one cannot but admire it. The CM was to take part in the meeting so I idled until the dignitary arrived watching the cops and others. Every guest there got a royal welcome with men dressed like attendants of yore escorting you up the stairs holding some kind of a mast in their hands. A shower of petals greets the surprised guest as they walk up the steps towards the reception. We did not get it since we weren’t staying there. Anyway, to cut a long story short while I did not exactly have a gala time there I was glad about the view. An added bonus was getting to watch a bevy of beautiful models walk past. Later I learnt from the papers that the next day Sabyasachi Mukherjee was having some kind of show at the TFP.

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