Published On : Tue, Mar 26th, 2013

Indian Coffee House Sadar shut down – Nagpur Loses its landmark

Advertisement

Waiter with turban in Indian Coffee House,Nagpur Will Miss You

 

Nagpur News: The iconic Indian Coffee House at Sadar was shut down on Monday after the landlord, LIC, took possession of the premises after winning a long court battle over rent. What’s left behind is only nostalgia, which is what Coffee House always evoked.

A place to rendezvous for the elite and middle-class alike, the Coffee House at Sadar started in 1960. Over the years, it became an integral part of the city, with even the traffic junction outside borrowing its name. Patrons became one large community, with many friends meeting only at this joint for years.

At 11.30am on Monday, officials of LIC accompanied by the police entered the Coffee House to take possession of the premises. As patrons and Coffee House workers watched, the premises was sealed. This was the culmination of a decade-old legal dispute between LIC and the Coffee Workers Cooperative, which operated the Coffee House.

The former had let out the premises to the cooperative in 1960. The rent, however, did not increase over time, and the tenant continued to pay 1,700 for the 3,100 sq ft premises in this prime locality. LIC demanded 50,000 as rent, but the cooperative offered 20,000 instead, leading to failure of talks.

History of the India Coffee House:

The ‘India Coffee House’ was started by the COFFEE BOARD in early 1940s, during the British rule. In the mid 1950’s the Board closed down several Coffee Houses in different cities throughout India. At that time the Board had decided to dismiss the employees. A large number of employees lost their jobs. That was a turning point, the well known great communist leader com. A.K.G (Ayillyath Kuttiari Gopalan Nambiar) took over the leadership of the said employees and organized Societies all over India in various states. This is the “INDIA COFFEE BOARD WORKER’S CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY”.

A lot of dismissed Coffee Board employees had dedicated their life, money and manpower for the formation of the Society. The first Society was formed in Bangalore on August 1957. The first new generation Indian Coffee House opened in Delhi on 27th December 1957. Society was registered in Thrissur on 10th February 1958. The first Indian Coffee House opened at Thrissur on 8th March 1958. It was also the fourth in the country. The Coffee House was inaugurated by Com. A.K.G.

Society’s jurisdiction is Thrissur to Thiruvananthapuram. The Society was established in 1958 and the founder President was Adv. T.K. Krishnan and secretary was Mr. N.S. Parameswaran Pillai. Fifty Indian Coffee Houses are running across Kerala from TCR. to TVM under the control of India Coffee Board Worker’s Co-operative Society Ltd. No. 4227, Thrissur. The Society is registered with District Industries Centre, Thrissur.
CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards 2008 names top Indian consumer brands

The CNBC Awaaz consumer awards 2008 were held at Mumbai felicitating the most preferred consumer brands of India, based on research by The Nielsen Company.