I was saddened to learn of the passing of Inder Sharma who was the owner and Chairman of Sita World Travels in India.  I first met Inder when I took over as CM - Marketing & Sales and we developed a close relationship.  He always called me whenever the TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India) needed the cooperation of the national carrier.  His phone calls always started with the words “Inder, this is Inder”.

At the same time, I consulted him whenever we wanted to initiate a dialogue with TAAI on any issue.  I can recall two occasions when he and I spent quite some time on major issues.

Soon after Nari Dastur took over as Commercial Director, some Travel Agents felt marginalized.  Inder Sharma and Vinoo Ubhayakar came to see me and expressed their unhappiness with what they perceived as preferential treatment to TCI.  It was their belief that TCI was being singled out because their two top personalities were Parsees. I tried to assuage their feelings and assure them that we treated all Travel Agents equally but that I would keep my eyes and ears open.

It soon became apparent to me that the feelings expressed by these two gentlemen did indeed have merit and that my boss was a “little too close” to TCI.  I waited for an opportune moment and took up the issue very carefully with Mr. Dastur.  I was very happy when, on reflection, he admitted that perhaps, some of his decisions could be construed as favoring TCI and agreed that henceforth, we would use me as a sounding board before he made any decisions vis-a-vis AI’s relations with Travel Agents.

Nari Dastur’s admission of partiality towards TCI came up in a conversation many years later when we had both left Air-India and met in Frankfurt in 1989.  At that time, he was the Regional Director - Europe and I was the General Manager - North America for Air Mauritius.  It so happened that a successor to both of us to the post of Commercial Director had, on retirement, associated himself with TCI to operate cargo Charters to/from India.

I clearly remember Mr. Dastur’s remark to me on that occasion “someone has finally taken TCI for a ride”.  It was then that I felt that my “intervention” on behalf of TAAI did have a salutary impact on Mr. Dastur and in fact, raised my esteem for him.

The second occasion came when Air-India was thinking of appointing a General Sales Agent (GSA) in North India to handle the low fare traffic to the U.K.  Inder Sharma called me and said that some members of TAAI were up in arms and were planning to officially raise this issue with the national carrier.

I confirmed to Inder that indeed, we were seriously thinking of such a move as we were losing out to BA, Air France and all the Arab carriers who had in fact, appointed GSAs to handle this segment of the market.  Inder Sharma then visited me in my office and as a compromise, I gave TAAI two years to show concrete efforts to get Air-India its rightful share of this market segment.  He readily agreed and went back to his colleagues with this compromise.

Unfortunately, TAAI was unable to compete with the GSAs of these carriers who had by then, been joined by Lufthansa.  So, after the two year period, AI appointed a GSA in North India.

Inder Sharma did not bring up this issue directly with me but got a colleague to raise this issue at the TAAI Convention held in New Delhi in 1980.  I was a member of a Panel when a TAAI member got up and asked if AI would agree to cancel its GSA agreement.  I gave the audience that background of the appointment and recall adding something to the effect that “I would gladly cancel my GSA when TAAI has the guts to raise this issue with the airlines who started appointing GSAs”.

After the Panel discussion, I cornered Inder Sharma who sheepishly admitted his role in prodding one of his colleagues to raise the question.  He also admitted that Air-India had been very open and fair in its dealings with TAAI on this issue.

Inder Sharma was one of the very elite group of Travel Agents who were instrumental in generating tourism to India.  Unfortunately, this group which included other stalwarts and very dear friends of mine - Gautam Khanna, Nari and Adi Katgara, Vinoo Ubhaykar and Jimmy Guzder - is no more.  

I am well aware that many new faces are on the scene and have taken over the mantle of promoting tourism to India, but I personally feel rather strongly that the passion and genuine efforts made by this “cream of personalities” was what put India on the tourism map.

In my career with Air-India, I made many friends and I hold people like Inder Sharma, Gautam Khanna and Jimmy Guzder among my closest ones.  They were genuine friends who came to my assistance when I needed them.  Gautam gave me valuable advice and assistance when we had our problems with the witch hunt organized by the Committee on Parliament Undertakings.  Jimmy came to my help when I needed a job for one of my brothers.

 My family and I spent many a weekend at Jimmy Guzders’ beautiful cottage in Marve Beach.  Gautam Khanna hosted us at Oberoi Hotels in India and always had time for lunch at his lovely home in Chattarpur on our visits to India. Inder Sharma, in addition to hosting us at his hotel in Manesar, always held a lunch for us retired or retarded (as Randhir Singh called us) Air-Indians every year that we visited India.  He presented us with a beautiful Pichwai and a carpet when he visited us soon after we had moved to the USA.

We had a visit by hurricane Irma which devastated the state of Florida.  We, on the east coast, were spared the main fury of this storm, but did get strong winds, heavy rain and rising flood waters.  The majority of residents lost power.  We were personally fortunate in that Devonshire at PGA National was self contained and our decision to move here was vindicated when we found how well we have been looked after.  At no time, did we feel unsafe or insecure.

And here, I would like to speak about the warm hearted generosity of the Management of Devonshire.  Firstly, they informed all residents to invite any relatives of friends who lived in the evacuation zones and whose homes were likely to be in danger of losing power.  Secondly, the same invitation was extended to the families of all the staff.

I am informed that we had a total of 200 such guests for the duration of the storm and its aftermath.  This speaks volumes of the large heart of Devonshire. 

Unfortunately, we lost our Internet, TV and landline phone connections because Comcast, our vendor, failed us. Those residents who used At & T did not suffer such a fate.  However, our power never went away, but I feel sad for the many members of the staff whose homes still have no power and they are living with temperatures in the 90s.

At the time of writing this Post, we do not have a clear indication of the total effects of Irma, but coming at the heels of another hurricane, Harvey, I hope that the man who sits in the White House is now having second thoughts on his views on Climate Control.

At the same time, I have read of the massive destruction and enormous loss of lives that has taken place in the sub-continent of India, Bangladesh and Nepal with the impact of the monsoons.  It would appear that Mother Nature is unsparing in which nation or region is impacted by its fury.  It is truly sad that the sub-continent has sufferings every monsoon.

We moved to our new home not knowing what to expect in terms of relationships with other residents and the service from the staff.

It has now been over 5 weeks and we cannot believe what we are experiencing.

From the very first day, we have been welcomed with “open arms”.  Our furniture had hardly been delivered when a neighbor dropped in and welcomed us to Devonshire, which is the name of this facility (the full name is Devonshire at PGA National).

That night we dined in one of the five restaurants and were immediately greeted by the Manager who guided us to our table and assisted the waitress to make sure that we were properly served. 

Next morning when I opened our front door to go for my morning walk, I found a beautifully gift wrapped bottle of wine from our next door neighbor with a card reading “Welcome home, neighbor”.  It was a very nice gesture.  They are an elderly couple and while he goes in for dialysis every three days, she is wheel chair bound.  Both of them are excellent company and we have already dined with them a couple of times.

Devonshire has about 329 apartments and an occupancy of 84.3% which they are hoping to raise to 95%.  There are about 85 couples and the rest are singles.  Apartments range from a one bedroom to one bedroom with a den, two bedrooms, two and a den and three bedrooms.  Ours is a two bedroom apartment of 1502 sq.ft and we have managed to fit in most of our stuff, although we had to give away quite a bit.  But then, we seem to be doing this every time we move.

Our apartment was refurbished from top to bottom with new flooring, new cabinets, new granite counters and new appliances.  All maintenance is provided free and that will change the filter in the refrigerator once the change light comes on.

There is a large Clubhouse of over 52,000 square feet with three wings of apartments and access to every facility or activity is by covered walkways.  So, one does not have to venture into the elements.  We are on the top floor of our wing and have the best view of the entire complex - a nature preserve and I will try and send photographs of this beautiful view.

Devonshire has Valet parking and Valet service.  We have the option of parking our cars or drive up to the entrance of our wing and our valet will park the car and/or bring up to the apartment, any shopping or bags that we may have.

There is a small Cinema which has 4 shows a day.  We saw a delightful comedy yesterday.  There is also a large auditorium where we have many activities every week.  There are showings of Classical Movies and lectures by the faculty of the local University.  On Monday evenings, we have live entertainment varying from Vocalists to group singing and we even had a Magician.  Our grand daughters happened to be here at that time and the younger one participated by assisting the magician.

We have a wellness center with a nurse in attendance during the day and most of the Security personnel are trained in nursing and hold diplomas in urgent care.  

There is Bingo every Thursday and I won two small prizes on our first visit to this event.  Last Thursday, we had a Casino Night where the Seminole Hard Rock Casino brought in gaming tables and croupiers and dealers.  There was a cover charge of $25 per person and a great time was had by all.  No cash changed hands and the top three winners received very attractive prizes

Card games include bridge, poker and canasta.  There is usually one outing every week, to a local horticulturist, a nature wildlife center or any other activity that the Activities Director selects.  She has two full time assistants and hence, there is no dearth of items for all of us to do.  You are free to join in or go your own way.

Devonshire has five (5) restaurants, each of which has its own chef and menus always include at least 5 entrees, plus two specials of the day.  The menu changes every month.  One restaurant specializes in seafood, another in meats of various kinds and a third is a delicatessen if you wish to have just a sandwich.

The monthly service charge includes daily continental breakfast and one main meal of the day.  Manju has cooked about 7 meals so far and these include the meals she prepared for our grand daughters when they visited us last month for 3 days.  She is delighted that she does not have to ask me what I would like for dinner.

In addition, there is live entertainment every weekend - FRI/SAT and SUN.  Our local Bank has a branch in the Clubhouse.  We have a small Gym but also have full and free access to the nearby PGA National resort which includes a swimming pool, a Spa, Massage parlor, Tennis courts and five golf courses, including the Championship course where they host the Honda Classic every February.  

Devonshire has its own fleet of cars and minivans and if one need a ride to a doctor, dentist, grocery store or the Gardens Mall within a radius of 10 miles, all we have to do is make a reservation.  There is no cost and this include drop-off and pick-up at the airport of Palm Beach International.  The only condition is that this facility is available between 08:00 and 16:00 hours daily.

The staff are very courteous, polite and always smiling.  They always address us as Mr. Sethi and Mrs. Sethi.  No member of the staff addresses any resident by their first name.  

I think I have given enough information about what Devonshire offers.  There is more but I believe I have covered the more essential items.

Manju and I have been welcomed by many residents and we have hardly had a meal by ourselves.  In fact, our calendar for dinner is full for the next 8 nights.

On the third day of our arrival, I was stopped in the corridor and asked if I played golf.  In answering “yes”, I was invited to join a small group who play every MON, WED and FRI.  They range from 77 years of age to 91 and I fit right in at 82.  We play at about the same level and so, I have my share of outdoor activity.

Let me conclude by saying that our experience so far has exceeded our expectations and the warmth with which we have been welcomed has been very uplifting. It is like living in a five star resort with people who are happy to be with you.