Indian Coffee House

Our spot is right inside the Jawahar Kala Kendra cafeteria area over in Bapu Nagar. If you know JNL Nagar, you know this building. Indian Coffee House has been a fixture here for ages. It’s not like those modern cafes with loud music and fancy couches. We have the old wooden chairs and the staff wears those traditional uniforms with the fans on the hats. It’s usually pretty quiet in the mornings, just a few people reading the newspaper or artists talking about their work. Then lunch hits and it gets loud with the clinking of heavy ceramic plates and people calling out orders. We don't have a computer system or anything; we just write things down and bring the food out when it's ready. The walls have seen a lot of history. Sometimes the service is a bit slow because it's a big space and we're often understaffed, but people don't seem to mind much. They just come here to sit and talk for hours. We serve the usual stuff, mostly south Indian snacks and coffee that's stayed the same price for a long time. It gets a bit dusty with all the open air, and the birds sometimes fly in through the doorways. It’s just a comfortable, worn-in place where you don't have to dress up or act like you're in a hurry. We’re just part of the furniture at JKK at this point.