( INDIA COFFEE HOUSE,
SRINAGAR )
The
India Coffee House in Srinagar is closed. Not that coffee is not sold in Srinagar,
never do I mean so. We have an ultra-modern coffee outlet near Hotel Broadway
exactly in the shops where Sita Travels had their office. Known as Coffea
Arabica, this outlet is a destination for a variety of popular middle eastern
dishes . This is a wonderful restaurant selling continental dishes more
particularly those from the middle east and a variety of hot and cold coffee to
its clientele. College students, businessmen, tourists, professionals,
government officials, and children from well to do families keep visiting this
restaurant. During my posting in Srinagar, I would also go to this place to sip the
excellent coffee or enjoy my favourite Felafel.
India
Coffee House on Residency Road, Srinagar just opposite to Sri Chand
Chinar Temple ( Sri Chand Ji was a saint
and son of Guru Nanak Dev Ji )was always crowded with writers, poets,
painters, actors, artists, musicians, politicians, journalists, college
teachers, strugglers and men from other social groups. So many persons would
chat, smoke and sip cheap but excellently brewed coffee served by smilingly and ever-busy waiters. You could also order a Dosa
or Wada or Idli to relish in between; all within your budget. You could also
buy coffee seeds. The staff from south India was humble and agile. Service was
prompt. Mr M. L. Channa, the manager was
also friendly and a local person from
Srinagar city.
Here in this coffee house, did Ali Mohd lone
conceive plots for some of his popular
radio plays sipping coffee in the company of his friends and fellow writers.
The noted writer Akhtar Mohi ud Din, Prof Sattar Ahmed Shahid, Prof. Surrinder
Tikoo, actor Trilok Dass ,
actor
Omkar Aima ( whenever in Kashmir ),
artist G. R. Santosh ( whenever in Kashmir ), Shafi Shaida ( poet
politician ), Abdul Majeed Baba ( businessman ), Zaffar Meraj ( journalist
), Waheed Raina ( industrialist and
political activist ), Shamim Ahmed Shamim ( journalist and MP ),
Mohammad Syed Malik ( journalist, whenever in Kashmir ), Mr Bhardwaj (
journalist Hindustan Times ), Capt. S K Tikoo, artist Bansi Parimu, Mr Bhaskar ( UNI ), Mr Sunder
Dev Sanyal ( dancer ) and many more known persons would sit together for gossip
or serious discussion over a cup of hot
coffee.
Capt. S
K Tikoo, a regular visitor to the
Srinagar Coffee House told me this :-
" M F Husain was always looking for his friend and fellow artist Bansi Parimu as and when he entered India Coffee House, Residency Road, Srinagar. He would be seen around Coffee House as and when he visited Srinagar during summers. ." Array Captain, Bansi nahin aaya abhi" or " O Captain! hasn't Bansi come yet ? ". This is how we started our conversation inside the India Coffee House, Srinagar. He had many issues to talk to Bansi Parimu. He disliked sitting in the hall. He disliked sitting In any gossip Mehfil. May be for the cigarette smoke or noise. Can't say the reason but he disliked it. He would pull me out from a gathering inside and say, ‘ Captain balcony pe chalte hain. Neeche ka nazaara bhi dekhenge. Tum se baat karne mein maza aata hai. Bahut ho gayi art aur culture ki baat ‘ or ‘ Come captain , let us go to the balcony . Let us look to the road below . I enjoy talking to you . Enough of these discussions on art and culture now .’ And he would ask so many questions and seek replies. One day, he suddenly told me, " captain zara paper lao ”. I went inside and brought a cigarette wrapper. He didn't like and asked for paper. I went to Mr Chana , the manager and he gave me a letterhead of the India Coffee House. I went to Husain but he said, " No, no yeh nahin bhai ”. Then I tore the portion that had India Coffee House written on it and went back to him. He was waiting and said, ‘Okay, okay’. He then signed on it in Urdu, Hindi and English and put date and place . ‘Yeh sanbhaalo’.I thanked him for the unique gift. I lost that precious gift in the blaze and destruction to my Srinagar house by some miscreants ."
" M F Husain was always looking for his friend and fellow artist Bansi Parimu as and when he entered India Coffee House, Residency Road, Srinagar. He would be seen around Coffee House as and when he visited Srinagar during summers. ." Array Captain, Bansi nahin aaya abhi" or " O Captain! hasn't Bansi come yet ? ". This is how we started our conversation inside the India Coffee House, Srinagar. He had many issues to talk to Bansi Parimu. He disliked sitting in the hall. He disliked sitting In any gossip Mehfil. May be for the cigarette smoke or noise. Can't say the reason but he disliked it. He would pull me out from a gathering inside and say, ‘ Captain balcony pe chalte hain. Neeche ka nazaara bhi dekhenge. Tum se baat karne mein maza aata hai. Bahut ho gayi art aur culture ki baat ‘ or ‘ Come captain , let us go to the balcony . Let us look to the road below . I enjoy talking to you . Enough of these discussions on art and culture now .’ And he would ask so many questions and seek replies. One day, he suddenly told me, " captain zara paper lao ”. I went inside and brought a cigarette wrapper. He didn't like and asked for paper. I went to Mr Chana , the manager and he gave me a letterhead of the India Coffee House. I went to Husain but he said, " No, no yeh nahin bhai ”. Then I tore the portion that had India Coffee House written on it and went back to him. He was waiting and said, ‘Okay, okay’. He then signed on it in Urdu, Hindi and English and put date and place . ‘Yeh sanbhaalo’.I thanked him for the unique gift. I lost that precious gift in the blaze and destruction to my Srinagar house by some miscreants ."
Dr
Farroq Abdullah once dropped in smilingly with friends and looking to someone
seated in the central table in the hall cried, ‘ How are you roll number 7 ?’ The man was his
college friend Mr Bira from Rainawari. Mr Bira worked for Sita Travels and
lived in Jogilanker area.
M K Raina , a well known theatre personality ( whenever in Kashmir )
and the restless Safdar Hashmi did also frequent this coffee house.
Incidentally, Safdar was teaching English in Kashmir university for some time
probably in 1978 and he was known to me through my friend Tej Dhar ( son of
Prof. A. N. Dhar ). He would also come
to the bank and sit for some time with us. Safdar was singular in his beliefs
and behaviour. He smoked nonstop, wore heavy spectacles, put on a long Kurta
over jeans or bell bottoms. He read Camus, Kafka and Faiz and directed some
plays at Tagore Hall, Srinagar; One being
‘Woyzek’ wherein Prof Raman’s family ( English Department, Kashmir University )
also acted. Aloke Aima, son of Onkar Aima and nephew of Mohan Lal Aima played
the lead character in this play. Alas, this bubbling Safdar died in trade union
violence in NCR, Delhi during the performance his Play 'Halla Bol' later .
I have been visiting this coffee house since
our college days. During those days, quite often, I would see Pervaiz Qureshi,
the dashingly cricketer standing at the balcony of the coffee house and looking
at the hustle and bustle of the Residency Road below. Alas ! this young man
died in a tragic road accident near the Zero bridge in Srinagar while driving his new motor bicycle. Pervaiz
was a heartthrob of many girls from women’s college ,Srinagar at that time.
Where
is our coffee house? Pity! at the moment converted to shop selling readymade
garment and all other household goods.
( Avtar Mota.... Srinagar 2009 )
I
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
Are you sure you are not confusing Pervaiz Qureshi. I know one Mr. Qureshi who used to be Captain of Kashmir Cricket team and lives in Jammu now.
ReplyDeleteI am Sure .Must be some other person whom you know..
ReplyDelete