Where ideas brewed: Patna's famous coffee houses fuelled political debates and creativity

Patna: Long before cafes became fashionable, Patna had coffee houses that shaped ideas, friendships and politics. They were not merely places to sip coffee, but cultural spaces where conversations flowed as freely as thought. Two such coffee houses – separated by time but united by spirit – once defined the city’s intellectual and political life. Today, they survive only in memory.Patna’s earliest coffee house came up at Latif Manzil on Ashok Rajpath soon after the Second World War. With exports disrupted during the war years, the India Coffee Board began opening coffee houses across Indian cities, including Patna, around 1945. The Latif Manzil outlet carried an unmistakable colonial charm. Well-dressed bearers served coffee, cashew nuts, sandwiches and mutton cutlets in carved crockery. The atmosphere was elitist and refined, but short-lived. The coffee house shut down in the early 1950s, leaving behind a faint but fond recollection of an old-world institution.Nearly two decades later, Patna rediscovered its coffee house soul. In 1971, India Coffee House opened on New Dak Bungalow Road, following a proposal by the then commerce minister L N Mishra. Inaugurated by the then governor Dev Kant Barua, the cafe soon became the city’s most vibrant public adda. For about one-and-a-half decades, it drew politicians, litterateurs, theatre persons, students and activists into animated discussions on politics, culture, art and the future.Legislative council deputy chairman and JD(U) MLC Ram Vachan Rai, a regular there, recalled the shock when it shut down in 1986. “The news about the closure of Coffee House was a big shock. For, it had emerged as a cultural centre in Patna,” he said. According to old-timers, the closure followed losses cited by the India Coffee Board and the building owner’s decision to reclaim the premises.The cafe had its rhythms. “During the day, politicians would sit, and in the evening from around 6pm to 8.30pm, Renu and those associated with cultural activities would sit across separate tables to discuss things,” Rai said. The legendary “Renu Corner”, reserved for writer Phanishwar Nath Renu and his circle, became part of Patna’s folklore. Student leaders of the 1974 JP movement, including Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi, planned strategies there. Writers, journalists, artists and activists gave the place its distinctive pulse.Attempts were later made to revive the idea of a state-supported coffee house, but they never materialised. “Some of us have long nursed a desire to revive it,” Rai said, adding that memories of that culture may fade with the passing generation.