Indian Coffee House

The Indian Coffee House in College Street is a cavernous, high-ceilinged hall defined by its faded turquoise walls and the white uniforms of waiters who still wear traditional turbans. It began as the Albert Hall in eighteen seventy-six, but by the nineteen forties, it became the regular haunt for students and professors from nearby Presidency College. Here, Subhash Chandra Bose debated politics, and generations of poets and filmmakers held court for hours over single cups of coffee, ignoring the constant steam and clatter.