Overview

Based on oral history, fiction, fascinating intellectual gossip, and records of the Coffee Board of India, this study is a multi-sited ethnography of the Indian Coffee House, possibly the world’s first coffee house chain.

Analysis

It offers a critical analysis of adda (informal meetings) of the educated middle class in Allahabad, Calcutta and Delhi.

Social Significance

The coffee house became the new socio-intellectual nerve centre, replacing the neighbourhood tea shops, and creating an entirely different social space.

Additional Features

This book will have line drawings and cartoons as well as archival photographs.