Attend the reading & discussion on "The Making of Samovar" How a Mumbai Cafe became a metaphor for a generation by Usha Khanna.

Date & Time: Friday, 24th August 2007, 7.00pm.
Venue: Crossword Kemps Corner
Topic of Discussion - "The value of spaces in a city that nurture and foster creative and intellectual discourse".

Panelists - Eminent Author Gregory Roberts, Noted Journalist Malavika Sangghvi & Columnist Anil Dharker
'The Making of Samovar' is about the making of Mumbai's legendary Cafe Samovar, that has served for over four decades as the watering hole, salon, dining hall and meeting place of its leading intellectuals and artists. Cafe Samovar has been the hotbed of creativity, nurturing artistic genius and providing an environment for the growth of some of the greatest names in the arts in India. Nestled on a humble corridor in the Jehangir Art gallery, Mumbai's premiere art institution, Samovar - through its proprietress the indefatigable Usha Khanna - has been privy to some of the art world's best-kept secrets.

When the history of artsy -bohemian Mumbai is recorded, a chapter will surely be dedicated to the Cafe named Samovar.

About the Author:

Written by Usha Khanna; directed & designed by Devika Bhojwani and edited by Malavika Sangghvi it is a one of a kind, treasured tribute, a delightful read and a page turning glimpse into Mumbai's world of art and intellectuals.


It begins in a kitchen in Rawalpindi in 1927, with the birth of the author, traces her involvement with the Freedom Struggle in Kashmir, her marriage to a young revolutionary, her tryst with Parisian cafe society, where she first experienced art cafes on the Left Bank; her exposure to new-wave art-house cinema, and every thing else that inspired her to create Mumbai's first and best loved artsy bohemian cafe Samovar- the haunt of artists, poets, film makers and students.