3rd Feb 2007 | By Raghu Ananthanarayanan

Recently, we at TAO had the great fortune to host Dr. Ryuji Fukuda. We have been trying to invite him to India for a few years. When he finally said yes, we were overjoyed. We wanted to make his visit memorable to him.

We wrote to the sensei, with a programme that included visits to Mahabalipuram and a possible invitation as a VIP to the Republic Day parade in Delhi. His answer was as important as his whole visit! He wrote back saying he was visiting India to serve customers and wanted to assure that he was full of strength and attentiveness so that he satisfied their expectations. He was sorry that he could not honour our invitation to see the interesting sights because he might become tired and not be at his best for the customer. He also requested us to bear with him since he was planning to bring his own food packets and not risk changing his food habits during the short visit!