HYDERABAD: On the sunny Friday morning, while the city was gearing up for the weekend, managing staff at Hotel Paradise in Secunderabad were smiling.
All thanks to the Little Master, who flew in from Mumbai to meet with the staff and core managing team.
“Our association with the brand coke has helped us rope in the Bharat Ratna awardee. We have had many politicians, film stars and people from various other fields come in, but he is the first Bharat Ratna awardee,” said Chandrasekhar, consultant for the restaurant.
He came to the hotel directly from the airport and offered company to 25 employees, apart from the core team.
“He shared his experiences on and off the field with all of us,” added Chandrasekhar.
Dr Kazim Himathi, one of the co-founders also shared his experience. “He made all of us comfortable. Though he had tasted the biriyani a number of times before, this is the first time he is coming the hotel itself. He was curious about the branches, the employees and the history of the hotel,” he said cheerfully.
For Kazim it is just another meet with the stalwart, but for Maqsood Ahmed who was closely involved with prepping up the hotel for the past two days, it was a moment cherished for a lifetime.
“I have been involved with the preparations for two days because Sachin is not like any other celebrity. I had no rest, but I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him because I never imagined I would,” exclaimed the fan who loves to watch him bat and also his partnership with Saurav Ganguly.
Unable to contain his happiness, he elaborated on the time that Sachin spent at the hotel. “He came in at 10 am, which is an odd timing to eat biriyani. He just had a cup of chai and some special fruit biscuits,” he informed, blushing over the moments he spoke to the 41-year old.
“I offered him biriyani too, he said he would pack some to take it back home. We got to action immediately and packed one chicken and mutton biryani each and also a kebab platter,” he exclaimed proudly.
Telling us about what the master blaster himself had to say, Chandrsekhar said, “He shared that he always loved the way biriyani tasted, as it was one of the things city bowler Pragyan Ojha took for the team mates.”
He spent barely 45 minutes and there were more than 1000 people outside the hotel. Fans of Sachin surely know how to follow his trail.