Good coffee, yum cookies, free wifi, relaxed atmosphere and
lots of travelogues to read on!!
Yeah indeed this sounds like a coffee café, but hold on
untill your thoughts wander into the normal lines of what a café is all about.
As students of journalism we need to make a documentary on a
topic of choice. So to find a place where we can have our long hours of script
writing sessions, we spotted this café, KUNZUM CAFÉ in the posh locality of Hauz Khas Village. I
have been to this place once before and it was my second visit and this time
with two of my friends. I was looking for my favorite place near the French
window, to steal glimpses of what is happening outside as well (this is the
reason why I always pray for a window seat in a bus). But anyways somebody was
already enjoying that corner of the café so we found another cozy place to sit.
We ordered for 3 cups of coffee and then I started looking around at the place.
One thing you would notice at the very first sight would be magnificent and
beautiful paintings hanging on the walls. At once it would look like an art
museum and indeed a striking one. The paintings are by Mr. Ajay Jain. Mr. Ajay
Jain is the brain behind ‘Kunzum Café.’ He started this place over 2 years
back.
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| Painting by Mr Ajay Jain
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| Painting by Mr Ajay Jain
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| Painting by Mr Ajay Jain |
The brilliant concept running behind this café is that, anybody can come
and sit for as long as they want without the compulsion of buying anything. You
do get coffee and tea along with yum cookies and though it is not free but you
can give the price whatever you feel like! And you don’t have to give it to anybody;
there is a small collection box near the entrance where you can drop any amount
as you please to. And free Wi-Fi is like a bonus offer.
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| The soothing coffee |
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| The box to put money |
While I was having a look around at the café, I spotted a
place where there were stacks of books kept over a wide spread wooden shelf. Travel
books dominate the collection. No wonder they have a whole book called, ‘Kunzum
Travel Guide’ where they have mentioned about the most interesting and unusual
places around the country. And as I was roaming around and clicking the
pictures, the General manager, Mr Apurbo, spotted me and called me. I got a
little apprehensive (though I had taken a prior permission to click there) and
was hell bent on assuring him that sir you can check my notes, there is nothing
I am writing that you would not want me to. All my worries were put to complete
rest when he politely started conversing with me and telling me more about
Kunzum café. He told me that they will be starting a proper 6-months course on
travel writing. They would set up criteria of selecting students for their
course, like an entrance exam or something.
Arun Paule Verma, a well known lens man conducted a
photography workshop here which was covered by ‘Travel Secrets; magazine. This
is just one of the many achievements which I am mentioning. Hindustan Times,
Forbes etc have all covered stories on Kunzum Café.
Talking about its relaxed atmosphere, the café has a very
friendly set up, with Bob Marley singing in the background (through a music
system) and wide variety of tea to offer which includes, chai masala,
Darjeeling tea, green tea, lemon flavored tea, green tea and mint, elaichi tea,
jasmine green tea and classic Assam tea. All the tea lovers, you get the hint,
right?
It’s not just a peaceful environment which develops your
love for the place but also a unique way of maintaining contacts with the
customers. They have a pile of beautiful diaries and scrapbooks, each for a
different purpose. On one you can leave your name and e-mail id. One is for
exclusively writing messages and feedbacks to Kunzum Café. There is also a
diary where you can write your personal anecdotes, like somebody wrote about a
trip to Mumbai. You will also find a kind of a photo essay book, where you can
paste pictures or self made sketches and describe something about it. There is
also something for the book lovers, it’s a diary named ‘Book wag,’ a kind of a
Book club where people can recommend various books like they have recommended
‘Tipping Point,’ ;Monk Who Sold His Ferrari,’ ‘River Dog’ by Mark Shand etc.
There is also a proud bulletin board placed upon the wall where people have
pinned there sweet messages on small papers, small kites and spoons made of
light wood.
People come here for various purposes, but one thing for
sure about it is; it’s a soul feeding and filling place!
When are you going to Kunzum Café?
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| Your way to a peaceful time |
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| The bulletin board on the wall, blessed with sweet messages |
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| Beautiful paintings by Mr Ajay Jain |
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Mr Ajay Jain, owner of Kunzum Cafe
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P.S. : A big thank you to my friend Jayashree's camera because of which I was able to click the pictures!!
