Must-visit: a Shimla cafe run by prisoners

Do you fancy reading while sipping on a hot cup of coffee accompanied by stunning vistas of a hill station? While you are at it, how about getting it a place that is run by prisoners serving life term in prison? Well, you can experience all of that the next time you are in Shimla, thanks to a new cafe that has opened right above the famous Ridge.
Named as the Book Cafe, this newly opened cafe serves coffee and a wide variety of snacks and beverages coupled with stunning views of the surrounding mountains. But, that is not all. The cafe’s daily operations are run by four convicted criminals who are serving life term at the Kaithu jail near Shimla. Aptly named, the cafe also has a mini-library from where you can pick a book of your choice.


Serving as a great initiative for the prisoners’ rehabilitation, the cafe has been funded by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) and can seat a total of 40 people. The cafe opens at 10 in the morning and closes at 9 in the night.
The inmates, named Jai Chand, Yog Raj, Ram Lal and Raj Kumar were given formal training by a renowned hotel so that they can serve the customers in the right manner. All four are more than happy for being a given a chance to prove their goodness to the world. Jai Chand was quoted by the media saying, “This cafe has given us the chance to connect to the world. This is being run by four of us independently. Even the visitors, the locals, don’t show any apprehension while interacting with us. Indeed, they are keen to know more about our radical transformation.”


Apart from serving a variety of beverages and snacks, including pizzas, cookies, sandwiches and other food, the cafe offers free Wi-Fi access and has an interesting collection of books by various authors from all around the world, besides educational books, magazines and newspapers.