The last sip of cheap chai

The well-loved Samovar Cafe at Jehangir Art Gallery is set to close down after 50 years

There was a time when patrons in a South Mumbai cafe would, in between sips of chai and bites of pakoras, look up at the ceiling to admire a mural of a voluptuous nude painted by artist Jatin Das. When it was regrettably wiped out, it was because of a seepage problem and not moral policing. In its 50 years, Cafe Samovar, set snugly in a verandah of Jehangir Art Gallery, has seen artists, including Anjolie Ela Menon, M F Husain and Mario Miranda, sketching their imagination on napkins, walls and even furniture. Soon, however, this romantic symbol of the bohemian period in the city's history will close to make way for a sculpture display.

The closing at the end of March will terminate Samovar's 30-year-long battle with the Jehangir Art Gallery that has gone from the Small Causes Court to the Supreme Court. The gallery trustees maintain they need extra room for exhibitions. When the cafe founder, Usha Khanna, challenged the eviction notice in 2005, she was backed by loyals through petitions and signature campaigns. It resulted only in an extension on the lease which is set to terminate. Khanna, now 87, and family have decided not to fight further because half a century is "a great landmark". There is disappointment, however. "I don't know what sort of gallery they will open across 700 square feet," shrugs Devieka Bhojwani, Khanna's daughter.

Samovar started in 1964 when Khanna served tea from a kettle, encouraged by the-then secretary of the gallery, Soli Batliwala. Two rows of tables are neatly placed in the narrow corridor, giving it the look of a train diner car. Bits of art hang on the walls. Waiters hand out no-frills menu cards. Even when Bhojwani took over the running of the cafe to give her mother some rest, the old cane chairs and tableware were retained on Khanna's insistence. She did not allow Chinese food to creep into the menu either. The only addition, after much coaxing, was a coffee machine because some tourists preferred fresh bean coffee to the instant variety.

Poets, struggling artists and actors had running accounts at the cafe. It was also a favourite with dating couples, most famously Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan. Amol Palekar, whose Chhoti Si Baat was filmed there, says his Hindi film career began with discussions at the cafe. An indication of how isolated Samovar remained from the frenzy of the city is his revelation that there was no crowd trouble even when a star like Ashok Kumar shot there. Columnist Shobhaa De describes it as "a great melting pot where everybody was equal" and where "tea and sympathy were served generously by Usha." Artist Rekha Rodwittiya says the simplicity of the space made it non-elitist and free from affectations.

Cafe regulars are coming to terms with the end. For poet Ranjit Hoskote, it marks the gradual disappearance of the cultural topography in which he grew up. "We will now speak of it as previous generations speak of Bombelli's, Napoli and Gourdon's," he says, referring to other landmark eateries that have closed. Bhaskar Ghose, former MD of IndusInd Bank, fondly recalls the row of well-behaved cats waiting to be offered tidbits. Seated at a spot where he and his wife, Rekha, spent most Saturday evenings in the late 1970s, he says it was common to share tables with complete strangers during busy hours.

Khanna and her family will close Samovar with a celebration. "Maybe we can have artists paint on tables," says Bhojwani. One such table with a sketch by Husain has been preserved. Lord Meghnad Desai, another regular, suggests the family should auction the furniture because it holds sentimental value for some. "It was unique," says a wistful Ghose. "You cannot possibly replicate Cafe Samovar."
Amol Palekar's memories of Cafe Samovar: mybs.in/2Rtu1Eq