Life Without ” Rhythm House ”&” Cafe Samovar “

RHYTHM HOUSE at Kala Ghoda

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA November 28, 2018 01.30 P.M.

On November 29, 2015 I read in the newspapers that RHYTHM HOUSE ” , the iconic music shop at Kala Ghoda area of south Mumbai , is going to be closed.

It finally got closed in February 2016.

What is so special that even after 2 years I am forced by emotions to write about this shop. After all it was just a shop.

Today’s generation can’t imagine it’s importance. It was lifeline of Mumbai’s cultural world. Long before Bombay became Mumbai, it was a must visit place for all the connoisseurs and aficionados of music world. In Bombay city of early 70s, 80s and 90s , it was a happening place , where all the connoisseurs of music used to descend every day.

Interior of Iconic RHYTHM HOUSE

There are talks to revive this place but in today’s world, when you can download any song for free , who will go and buy LP, EP, records, cassettes and CDs.

I have so many fond memories of this place. Though I didn’t have much money those days but still I used to go there to buy cassettes and CDs of old Hindi films, old songs of Lata Mangeshkar, Bengali songs, Robindro Sangeet and song of Elvis Presley. Alas! those days are just memory.

Rhythm House is not alone. In the same year when it got closed, another iconic south Mumbai place CAFE SAMOVAR also got close in March 2015. Started by Usha Khanna in 1964, Cafe Samovar in Jehangir Art Gallery has been an icon of Mumbai’s cultural landscape for decades.

One by one all the iconic places of old Bombay are becoming memories. After Bombay became Mumbai, I feel there is no love lost for old icons of the city. I feel sad . Government of the day should try to preserve the heritage of old city.

The new Mumbai doesn’t mean that old Bombay should fade away from the landscape.