New Delhi 26th November 26, 2012: Ankur Chawla a full, eyewitness account of the 26/11 Taj attack —an operations management trainee with the hotel in 2008. On the fourth anniversary of the 26/11 Taj attack, Ankur gives the complete inside story with his book titled 14 hours which is officially released today and is available at leading book stores. This book serves as both a tribute to those who lost their lives and a celebration of the spirit of those who survived.
The world stood still on 26/11. The story has been heard and told in numerous snippets, especially over repetition of similar incidents of small nature. The book is written in a way that the world will not know as something that happened in the past to someone, but one can get a feel of being the part of the unfortunate mishap. A stark and compelling narrative, this is the story of a man who battled immense fear and peril to emerge a survivor who left his job to bring out the real story.
Book is available at all the leading book stores priced at Rs 195 only. The entire book is divided into three Phases. Phase I and II talks about the journey inside the hotel, during the attacks with timings to have a better understanding of the real picture of the event. Phase III talks about the life post the event and here the time frame between the chapters, increases drastically from minutes to days and months.
The USP’s of the book:-
• Even after 4 years from the date of the incident, the inside story in yet to be revealed in words.
• Authenticity of the book lies in the whole sole experience of the author as the author himself has
Experienced the same.
• Previous market trends show that books on real incidents have been an instant hit among the readers.
• It is a richly woven narrative of author’s experiences; based on real events, which will prove as a good
read for all the fiction lovers.
• The acceptability of the same would be very high and the target audience is huge. From collage going
teenager to retired old man, from all the associates from the hospitality industry to all the glitterati
visiting the 5 star hotels.
About the author
ANKUR CHAWLA went to school in Delhi and then graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management, Shimla. He was selected as an operations management trainee with the Taj Group of Hotels. He has worked at different Taj properties, including the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, for almost five years. Ankur has, over the years, also played musical instruments such as the tabla and drums, participated in theatre, acted in documentaries and undertaken several public-speaking and marketing engagements. He currently holds a managerial position in the food and beverage department at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi.