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Once upon a time it was a little shack selling pickle and jam. That was more than 50 years ago. Dhruv Shankar’s parents were freedom fighters, who set up a little counter on Janpath – then known as Queen’s Way – after independence. Today, it is a wonderful little shop called Adarsh in the Indian Oil Building on Janpath. It is known all for its cold coffee, and music lovers haunt the place for its great collection of CDs and tapes.

This is the time to visit Adarsh. Now that winter is upon us, Janpath is bustling with life and colour. The paved path is crowded with little shacks, selling clothes of all hues and types, beads and bags, and what have you. You can walk up and down, listening to all the men in the shop sing out their ware with catchy little one-liners. It used to be “Paanch key do, paanch key do” once. But while the prices have gone up, Janpath is still what it used to be – the place for Delhi’s janta.

If you enter Janpath from Ashok Road, Adarsh is on your left. I have always liked this shop – and essentially for the genial man who runs it. People go there for their music, and drink a bottle of cold coffee (Rs.15) or have some piping hot coffee (Rs.8) while Dhruv fishes out just what they are looking for. And these days, they can even eat a light lunch while they are waiting, for Adarsh has a nice little counter that sells cartons of food.

You can, for instance, get a generous helping of chicken tikkas with a roomali roti and traditional home-made chutney for Rs.45. Or you can eat, like I did, two small shammi kababs with a roomali roti for Rs.30. They sell a chicken roll for Rs.45 and seekh kababs for Rs.30.

For the vegetarians, there is a paneer roll (Rs.35) and paneer tikka (Rs.30). The food is cooked at home, carted to Janpath, and then heated in a microwave before it is served. I enjoyed my shammi kababs, which were meaty, lightly spiced, not the least bit oily and went well with the tart chutney. For me, this was a quick lunch – and a very satisfying one at that. The beverages counter has cold coffee – called Adil’s – and kesar badam milk for Rs.28.

If you are in a hurry, you can always pick up a sandwich – Rs.20 for a chicken sandwich, Rs.15 for a vegetable filling. I always like entrepreneurs who are passionate about something. Dhruv loves his music – and he recognises his customers by the kind of the music they like. And if you are in search of some music that you can’t get your hands on, he promises to do it for you. Once, I dreamt of opening a bookstore with a small counter for coffee and biscuits, and with some nice music in the background. Adarsh’s is the next best thing – you can browse around for music, while you nibble at some chicken tikkas or seekh kababs, and wash it down with hot or cold coffee. This, indeed, is Life – and with a capital L.

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