India Coffee House@ Mall Road Shimla: A journey down memory lane

By Neeraj Bajpai

If faded leather seats, old furniture, crockery, cutlery and cheap tissue papers cast first hand poor and shocking impression ,the moment one steps into historic Indian Coffee House at cool breeze bathed Mall Road in Shimla, Wafting aroma of hot coffee cups being served by traditionally dressed waiters swiftly revive nostalgic feel of this popular local joint.

Despite poor maintenance, the place still bustles with liveliness and quietly pines for an immediate re-do. After all, the place is still a favorite rendezvous for locals who relish every moment and penny they spend there.  It is virtually packed with chattering crowd of regular visitors.  Many people find it a cheap place for breakfast – which certainly does not include Tea but serves south Indian dishes, crispy toast butter, omelets, cheese sandwiches etc.

Ever since its inception, it has seen visitors from all walks of life and gossips of scandal point are always in the air. With election to the state assembly is round the corner, mercury of debates and discussions is shooting with every passing day.

Last week, Gossips about rapist baba Ram Rahim and his arrest’s impact on the tourism sector was much in the air much to the surprise and panic of tourists who were worried about safe return to their destinations.

Journalists, politicians, bureaucrats, middle level government servants, legal luminaries dressed in casuals as well as formals flock here for intimated discussions which veer around climatic changes to Syria violence. The Coffee house is whining with same fervor ever since it started operations sixty years ago.  

Many locals say it is really emulating example that small and humble cooperative society too can survive in mid of swanky multinational showrooms and state of art eating joints.

Media reports say that only a worker can be member of the society after serving for five years. The coffee house was started during time of Pandit Jawarlal Nehru who had looked into a petition of workers who were apprehending their retrenchment by the central coffee board.These houses were opened at many places including Delhi, Jaipur, Dharamashala etc. But with passage of time, many were folded and or ran like an apology, losing their traditional charm.

As we entered for the breakfast this week end, I noticed that ambience is same and quality of stuff served was up to standard with reasonable price tags.Wearing red band around their waist, waiters in clean white dress with traditional head gear were serving the hot dishes, but upholstery and furniture gave a cheap look. Much to our surprise, someone had scribbled down mathematical calculations on back of tissue paper supplied for hand cleaning. Unfazed by digital India campaign and cashless economy, the prestigious eating point had no machine to swipe cards and only cash transactions were allowed.

A little funding can improve the coffee house which has its iconic presence on the mall road .May it be veterans of the city or latest gadgets equipped millennials, everyone wants to patronise it to keep it afloat during avalanche of fast changing developments and growing craze for multinational eating points.