By D. Maan, Jadetimes News
Iconic Irani Cafes in Hyderabad on Brink of Extinction: A Culinary Tradition Under Threat
Hyderabad's iconic Irani cafes, famous for creamy chai and freshly fried samosas, hang in an uncertain balance. Distinctive by their Persian influence, such cafes have been deeply embroiled within the culinary and cultural tapestry of India for more than a century. Now, squeezed between economic pressures and shifting consumer tastes, their precarious existence reaches the brink of extinction.
Taste of Tradition
Irani cafes began their careers in Indian cities like Bombay and Pune during the 18th and 19th centuries after a mass migration of Persians. The southern city of Hyderabad also became one of the leading centers for these cafes since it, through history, already had links with Iranian trade and Persian influences at the hands of its former ruler, the Nizam, a Muslim prince.
These cafes are typically characterized by marble top tables, chequered floor, and an old-world charm. They gained popularity not only for the food but also for providing an ecosystem for social interaction and bridging classes and castes in society. The cafes were a haven where people of every religion and caste would get together and sip on creamy Irani chai, munching on freshly fried samosas.
Changing Times
Though the Irani cafes hold a rich cultural heritage, the number has drastically come down in Hyderabad. Though there were an estimated 450 cafes two decades ago, only about 125 remain today and are still surviving. Part of the reasons lie in many factors, including the onslaught of fast food chains, spiraling real estate prices, and changing tastes of the consumers.
Chains of fast food arrived in town in the 1990s, the same time Hyderabad began to boom with IT driven economic growth and development. Added to that, rising rents and inflation have made it difficult for Irani cafes to fight back. Many such cafes, operating out of rented locations, failed to keep up with the explosive property prices and the inflated costs of basic items such as tea powder and milk.
Challenges and Resilience
Jaleel Farooq Rooz, owner of The Grand Hotel, one of the oldest and finest Irani cafes in Mumbai, very succinctly articulates the challenges that are confronting these cafes. The family has been part of the Irani cafe tradition since 1951, but fast-food chains and rising operational costs make it tough to carry on this legacy anymore. Once serving up to 9,000 cups of chai a day, The Grand Hotel now sells around 4,000 cups.
Similarly, Mahmood of Farasha Restaurant comments that the Iranian families that usually venture into the café business are fewer compared to the past. Most members of the young generation prefer other professions or migrate elsewhere hence reducing the number involved as new entrants into the industry.
Some owners just don't give up and try to keep this legacy alive. Syed Mohammed Razak, the manager of the Red Rose Restaurant, is also fighting to keep the business relevant. Having been an engineer and a graphic designer himself, Razak brings in new dishes and fights for survival using digital marketing.
A Community's Farewell
To so many of their long time regulars, Irani cafes mean much more than somewhere to get a meal; they literally mean a way of life. Yanni, one of the regulars at The Grand Hotel, concurs with the personal relationship developed with such cafes. "Irani tea is part of my life," says Yanni. "There is nothing like it even today."
With these cafes struggling to survive in a rapidly changing world, their disappearance would be enormous in terms of cultural loss. Irani cafes are an epitome of the unique blend between Persian heritage and local adaptation; they remind one of India's rich tapestry as a multicultural society.
In the retention of such dear institutions, one expects the Irani cafe legacy to thrive through generations and times, and for future generations to come to know and enjoy themselves. Not merely for the sake of business, their survival was about keeping alive an important element of cultural heritage.
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