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Indian
Coffee House
Adding
aroma to life
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after 50 years, the Indian Coffee House continues to serve
and stir its large clientele. The young may find its
‘drab’ image unpalatable, yet its authentic and
affordable fare continues to have many takers. Battling a
fund crunch, the cooperative-run chain has managed to hold
its own in a competitive market. In the ICH’s golden
jubilee year, The Tribune
correspondents check out what’s brewing at its
outlets in Delhi, Chandigarh and Shimla |
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DELHI
Dishy menu, drab
interiors
Vibha Sharma
There
was a time
when there used to be 12 to 13 outlets of the Indian
Coffee House (ICH) in Delhi. The famous Connaught Place
branch in Central Park was patronised by the late Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi and former Prime Minister I.K.
Gujral besides some well-known names in the Capital’s
academic and journalistic circles, recalls Indian Coffee
Workers Co-operative Society Ltd General Manager Gabar
Singh Gusain. |
SHIMLA
Brewing profits since
1962
Pratibha Chauhan
The
Indian Coffee
House located on the Mall Road, Shimla, is one of the
oldest Indian Coffee Houses of the country. It was opened
in 1962. Competition from big names in the food industry
has not lessened the popularity of the joint, which till
date remains a much-visited haunt. It may not be that
popular with youngsters, who prefer the more happening
joints in town. |
CHANDIGARH
For a sip of
nostalgia
Aditi Tandon
As
you walk the corridors of Sector 17 in Chandigarh,
the aroma of filter coffee beckons you. It has been
wafting around this place for years, welcoming into its
fold old fans of the Indian Coffee House tradition, and
seducing new ones. Inside the ICH, a familiar clamour
prevails — the kind that’s born when people talk their
hearts out. Here, they do just that and even travel the
distance from the adjoining cities of Mohali and Panchkula
for the purpose. |
The coffee house in Mohan Singh Place, Delhi. Filter coffee remains the all-time favourite with customers.
— Photo by Manas Ranjan Bhui |
Long-time patrons in Chandigarh enjoy their chat sessions over coffee and South Indian snacks.
— Photo by Parvesh Chauhan |
Net
gains and losses
Cyber technology
has changed the way we communicate, and the way we look at the
world and people, says Brinda Dasgupta
Robin
George Collingwood,
the famous British historian, once wrote, "Every new
generation must rewrite history in its own way." He perhaps
had not much of an idea of how much he would be proved correct,
more than 50 years after his death. For if you look at the
millions of people blogging furiously in cyberspace, if you
glance at the staggering number of Facebook profiles, and if you
take a peek at the vast source of knowledge, namely Wikipedia,
you shall realise that we are rewriting history in our
own way.
At
home in all roles
Legendary actor
Charlton Heston, who died recently, played lead roles in
Biblical epics with aplomb. He performed equally well in action
films, writes Ervell E. Menezes
For
me the legendary
Charlton Heston is Judah Ben-Hur in that multi-Oscar winner Ben-Hur,
and the spectacular chariot race is deeply embedded in memory
because I was a teenager then, but in latter years the aspect,
which was even more revealing, was the falling out between two
great friends — Ben-Hur (Heston) and Masala (Stephen Boyd).
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