Mysuru:  Rebel Star, Mandyada Gandu and former Minister Ambarish, who passed away in Bengaluru on Saturday, was a frequent visitor to Mysuru as he was a Mysurean. Once his film career took off, whenever he came to Mysuru for shooting or other official engagements, he always used to stay in Room No.1032 at Hotel Sandesh The Prince  in Nazarbad.

This Room No.1032 is a well-furnished room with a big hall, sitting room, bedroom, two LCD TVs, a sit out and it even has a massage chair.

Whenever Ambarish came to Mysuru, he would call the hotel in advance and inform them, “I am coming to Mysuru. Keep my room ready.” He never preferred to stay in any other room than Room No.1032. Hence, the room was called ‘Ambi Suite.’

This is how Sandesh The Prince Owner and MLC Sandesh Nagaraj reacted, speaking to Star of Mysore about his intimate friend Ambarish. Even though their political affiliations were different that did not come in the way of their friendship as it transcended all such limitations.

He recalled that when he built Sandesh The Prince in 2002, Ambarish had come along with the then Chief Minister S.M. Krishna to inaugurate the hotel. While constructing the hotel itself, the room was designed keeping Ambarish’s tastes and his living style in mind, he added.

“That is why I named Room No.1032 as Ambi’s. Since 2002 whenever Ambarish came to Mysuru he would stay in this room. When he was vacating the room, he would invariably meet me or if I was not there, he would call me over the phone, talk to me and then leave,” said Nagaraj.

“I am coming to attend the wedding reception of Mysugar former President Shivananda’s daughter in Mandya on Nov.24. Later, I will come to Mysuru, keep Room No.1032 ready for me,” Ambarish had said and unfortunately the phone call never came again, Nagaraj said in an emotional voice.

“Destiny has snatched Ambarish away from all of us. Before we built this hotel, Ambarish used to stay in Hotel Kings Kourt on JLB Road. But once our hotel was ready, he turned his back on that hotel. Our friendship cannot be measured in words,” said Nagaraj.

Room No.412 in Woodlands: Just like Ambarish had a room reserved in Hotel Sandesh The Prince, he also had his favourite room in Bengaluru’s Hotel Woodlands near Richmond Circle. Room No.412 was located in the fourth floor of the hotel and he was staying there in the initial years of his film career for 17 years.

He stopped using the room, once he built his own home in J.P. Nagar. Incidentally, Ambarish’s maternal grandfather, Violin Maestro Pitil Chowdiah also used to frequent Woodlands Hotel, but in Chennai, whenever  he was there.