User:Prathmesh Nadkarni/sandbox

Natrani Cafe
General information
Location	inside Darpana Acdemy Of Performing Arts, Usmanpura, Ahmedabad.
Construction started	1994
Owner	Mallika Sarabhai

Natrani Cafe

Natrani Cafe is a cafe founded by Mallika Sarabhai in 1994. it is a part of the famous Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. The cafe isn't a term in any dictionary. it is made up by adding two terms NAT of nataraj, the King of Dance and RANI, Mallika Sarabhai's Mother (Queen of Dance). Hence the Cafe is a tribute to Mrinalini Sarabhai.

About Natrani Cafe

Darpana academy of performing arts is a school that believes that art is a universal language. Darpana academy contributes art to society in various ways to inform , to educate , and to transform the society about the significance of the same (art). It was started 66 years ago as a teaching and performance institute and has now emerged into a contemporary symbiosis affirming the role of creativity and innovation. One of its most famous innovations or one of its several other creative projects is NATRANI CAFE. It is a place famous for its fast food and tea or coffee, sandwiches and filter coffee are demanded quite often. It serves great food as well as great outdoor ambiance. It is a place where you may see the confluence of dancers, actors and more unite for a cup of tea or coffee with an aim to connect with each other and with the environment , as it is an outdoor seating. Not only it provides food and an amusing place to hangout but , also entertainment in the form of poem reading and theater performances. Natrani has been winning hearts of their valuable customers ,

"I love the ambiance, the positive creative energies that seem to just flow in this entire campus." (Kim, 2014)

"one of the oldest yet not-so-famous AWESOME & COOLEST hang-out Cafe in Ahmedabad – Natrani Cafe." - (Cityshor, 2016)

Ambience

Café Natrani is not yet famous but a very awesome and cool place to hangout. It has aura which can make you fall in love with it. As soon as one enters in it he/she can feel a sense of oneness and home. It is located at ashram road, Ahmedabad and gives the riverfront view which makes the loud noise of horn from the traffic inaudible and invisible. The sitting arrangements somehow creates a sense of nostalgia, it feels like seating in the school canteen with our gang once again. The cafe walls are filled with artistic designs and are full of creativity. The decor of this cafe befits its location in the premise of Ahmedabad's premier performing art centre – Darpana Acedmy and the Natrani amphitheater with its artsy even slightly funky and bohemian appearance, arches, stone decorations and alfresco seating. It is a fun place for a coffee, snack or casual meal, especially when it is buzzing with artists, dancer and theater people rehearsing for production or during events when the arts and culture crowd can be seen here , but otherwise it is fairly quiet  . It is an open air cafe so the best time to visit it is mornings and evening as this time is comparatively cool and the cool breeze from the riverfront and performances  will also make the environment worth staying. Overall it is good place for hanging out with the group or going on date with someone special.

"Natrani's most delightful attraction is the seating arrangement that allows you to bring on deep conversations, and serious work culture. The prettiest area of this entire cafe is placed in the corner- inside the washroom that is adorned with beautiful graphic paints. Natrani's nimbupani is an icing on a cake, that wholly makes the cafe's pride on the go." (Cityshor, 2013)

Natrani has also done its bit for the environment by using environent friendly furniture. the seating arrangement is made up of recycled mosiac, the place grows it own herbs, infact the cafe is also solar powered.

Services, Amenities and Performers

The services which are offered at Natarani Cafe are the main USP of the place.

“Facilities for artists, in several theaters in the country, are in a pathetic state. Often, the performer is unable to communicate with the technicians, resulting in chaos. The four of us who conceived Natarani, were aware of all these shortcomings. And that is why, when we pooled in our 120 years of experience, we made a list of all those amenities we deemed absolutely essential”

- Mallika Sarabhai, 2010.

No other arts institution in India has the amenities which Natarani has to offers such as, a feature rich campus, a professional amphitheater, up to date technical equipment, a library rich with literature of various genres, the rehearsal rooms and most importantly the entire mind set of the staff working there. Natarani has one of the best stage any performer could have. They provide the stage on rent to any artist who wants to take a break from his routine practice and wants to perform with some other great artists.

Natarani became gateway for national and international level artists to come and perform in Ahmedabad without any hesitation.

“I can safely say that before Natarani was born, Performers of national and international repute Had serious apprehensions about coming to Ahmedabad. Today, we have around 80 major performances every single year, and artists from more than 60 countries have visited the the city for performances. It has been an immensely fulfilling journey.”

- Mallika Sarabhai, 2010.

Natarani has had performances from great artists such as:

• Aditi Mangaldas
• Amjad Ali Khan
• Anupam and Kiron Kher
• Anuradha Kapur
• Astad Deboo
• the Auroville Dance Company
• the Cartoon Sardine Theatre
• Fazal Qureishi
• the Garlic Puppet Group
• Javed Akhtar
• Louis Banks
• Shivamani
• Niladrikumar
• Mynta
• the Paul Taylor Dance Company
• Rahul Bose and Anahita Uberoi
• Ramdas Padhye
• Raman Kutty Nair
• Daksha Sheth
• Rohini Hattangady
• Ronnie Govender
• Shabana Azmi
• Shovana Narayan
• Shubha Mudgal
• Tom Alter
• Usha Ganguli
• Vibha Mishra
• Zakir Hussain
• Indian Ocean
• Deepti Naval
• Nandita Das
• Zohra Sehgal and many others.

Mallika Sarabhai herself performed the cities greatest play 'KadakBaadshahi' at cafe Natrani. the play went on for about 33 days straight.

You can find people of all ages and backgrounds having a good time at Natarani. Nowadays youth has also taken initiative in watching and performing arts, making the place a hub for young energy too.

Menu and Cuisines

With more and more cafes opening in the city keeping a specific concept as their primary attraction, eating out these days is much more than just food and beverages. Yes, as the mercury level is gradually rising, this is how Amdavadis are spending most of their evenings these days. We walk you through some new cafes in Ahmedabad that have a lot more on their platter than just some lip-smacking food and Chai and cafe latte, and one of them is Natrani Café. From art to theater, ancient architecture, product design and many more unique concepts, a number of city based cafes boast of its own USP, giving each their unique identity.

“Natrani Cafe in Ahmedabad is Nostalgia Cafe for me. I have been coming here for more than a decade, and still every time I visit the place again it woos me back like a seductress. The cafe is so much more than a cafe - it’s a place where like minded people conglomerate and do some absolutely amazing stuff. On any given day you can find writers, performers, photographers, designers and all sorts of other crazy people doing their crazy shit!”     - Siddhartha Joshi, 2015

“Of course, Natrani cafe is also about coffee and food. The coffee is pretty decent but somehow it tastes really good to me. The food menu is not huge but you can get simple meals and some snacks as well. Sandwiches are good and so are cheese chilly toasts.

My favorite is basic cold coffee (though at most other cafes I prefer Americano), but the cold chocolate is also very good.”  - Siddhartha Joshi, 2015

Natrani café includes food items ranging from sandwiches to pizzas to pastas and the heart of the café – Coffee. Sandwiches include – chutney and cheese, mustard and mayo, pizza sandwich with mozzarella and herbs. Pastas include – classic tomatoes, white cheesy creamy sauce, coriander and chilly etc. all of these available in the form – penne, spaghetti, fusilli, and farfalle. Pizzas include – Margareta, Spicy Paneer, golden corn, black pepper etc. Finally Coffee has its taste on chocolate, coffee mocha, dark hot or cold, filter coffee and much more. Today the café even provides omelets, tea, nimbu pani, breakfast , mini meals, energy drinks so on and so forth.

Honest Reviews

Being such an old cafe, Natrani has a unique essence of the Ahmedabad city’s rich vintage heritage. It is a favorite hangout place for both locals and outsiders. The cafe, is so much more than a cafe - it’s a place where like-minded people conglomerate and do some absolutely amazing stuff. On any given day you can find writers, performers, photographers, designers and all sorts of other people doing amazing things which attract even tourists. One of the attractions is the classical performances by various renowned dancers in the open air amphitheater in the cafe. One can enjoy dance performances, click pictures of the beautiful setup and a have a nice cup of coffee at this river facing cafe. Natrani cafe is also about coffee and food. Although there are limited food items in the menu, coffee is loved by most of them. Moreover, their mouth watering sandwiches and lip smacking toasts are a delight for all the foodies. However every coin has two sides, not all the customers who visit the cafe leave completely satisfied. High prices of food items are not enjoyed by all. As the cafe likes to keep their dance academy a secret, many visitors might take it in a negative way. Keeping aside these minor shortfalls the testimony of the how good the cafe is directly reflected through these lines: “It’s a unique place. It will surely remind you of your college canteen; Very rustic, organic outdoor seating, limited menu but worth a try just cause if it’s uniqueness.”