ATITHI DEVO BHAVA RICH INTENTIONS OF INDIAN HOSPITALITY AND THE ART OF ABUNDANCE

The old Air India Maharaja lounge smells of jasmines and sandalwood. In this in- between world of airports, where time and place are distilled into concepts, at once amorphous and ever-present, the lounge offers a sanctuary. It locates the traveller in an experience.

- TEXT BY AMITABH KANT

It reminds them of their place in a history that is still being written. In India, hospitality is, and always has been, a function of feeling. Our culture is imbued with a deep sense of collective responsibility that flows from centuries of connectedness. At the heart of this web of care is the family. Parents are revered as living gods and guests are recognized as divine visitors. Even our doorways are thresholds of ceremony. Adorned with vibrant rangolis and fresh garlands, they mark the sacred welcoming of guests into the ghar, ready to receive not just a person, but the abundance they represent. To serve is thus a matter of immense pride. No one leaves an Indian household hungry. Hospitality is everywhere – at border crossings and bus stops, in havelis and mud homes, on trains and lake-boats.

There is a unique theatre in this art that India has long mastered. Over time, it has taken many expressions. If the old Air India was a sanctuary in the sky, then Rajasthan has its own Palace on Wheels. Launched by the Indian Railways and the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation in 1982, this first-ofits-kind luxury heritage train was a tribute to the royal carriages of the maharajas and to the legacy of princely India. Each journey on this train was designed to evoke the grandeur of a bygone era; through visual motifs, ornate cabins and attentive service, but also through entire days spent cradled in the stories and rituals of Rajasthan’s palaces and deserts.