Denizens long for missing Irani hotels

Secunderabad: Woh cutting glass mein kadak chai aur do samosa, woh doston ke saath gupshup! Irani cafes which were once abuzz with conversation, laughter and life today stand silenced amongst the chaos of industrialisation.

From forging friendships over just a cup of chai to holding long discussions on topics ranging from politics to art and literature, the cafes which were popular hangouts among people living or working in the vicinity slowly lost its charm as its customers got sunk into the whirlpool of their busy lives.

Over 100 cafes on the Sardar Patel Road that welcomed people to the city with a strong aroma of fresh and steamy Irani chai and mouth-watering delicacies like Dilkush, Lukmi, Kheema Patties etc in 1995 were eventually been replaced by posh coffee hubs and luxury hotels.

Today, apart from the iconic Paradise Restaurant, Garden Restaurant, and Alpha Hotel, only four cafes like the Blue Sea near the Rathifile Bus Stop still continue to delight tea lovers and foodies across the twin cities. “My father Ghulam Raza and his friends had started this Garden Restaurant over 75 years ago but till date, there has been no change in the menu or even in the way we cook over here.

The famous chicken and mutton biriyani that we serve our customers are still made on firewood. Artistes like MF Hussain who relished eating mutton pieces at our place had once brought Madhuri Dixit with him to relish our special chai. In fact, during Christmas and New Year, the roads here used to fill up with people from the Young Men’s Christian Association who would flock at our premises for the slices of plum cakes we used to prepare.

Even today we work from 5 am to 12 am but the clientele has definitely seen a drop and so did the café culture.” sighs Mohammed Hussain, second-generation owner of Garden Café.
The wooden chairs and centre tables topped with marble finishing where people would spend the entire day in an idle chat or reading newspapers have now been replaced with just metallic tables for people to stand and have their food or consume the chai and leave as soon as they are done.

“One cannot completely blame the café owners for cutting down on the chairs or tables because the consumers no longer have time to sit down and savor the delicacies wholeheartedly. They are always in a rush.

But thankfully there are still a few regular customers who still retain the bond they have with café and come down at regular intervals to refresh their memories.” shares Hussain.

Apart from the bustling city life, even construction activities undertaken by the government too seemed to have taken a toll over the age-old chai cafes. While the 30-year-old Blue Sea Cafe lost over nine feet of its area under road widening for the metro activities, the Garden Restaurant Café was deprived over nearly 35 feet of its premises for the same.

Admitting that the loss was unbearable, Hussain narrates how an 80-year-old woman came to his son while the café was being bulldozed and lamented seeing the debris.

Yet a few still cherish the memories they spent at the chai cafes as the most beautiful phase of life. “It is unfortunate that the younger generation doesn’t get to experience the fun we used to have in the cafes with our friends without any electronic gadgets to interrupt our hearty talks.” reminisces Nirmal, a tea lover.