Gurugram: A lot can happen over a cup of coffee. Sometimes, even Hanuman Chalisa. That’s what Gurugram’s HUDA market café cum bakery offers as an add-on to the hip and young every Tuesday.
What’s different is that the Hanuman Chalisa singers are a band of young English-speaking men wearing jeans and T-shirts, playing guitars and drums. Their kind of spiritual jamming makes the lyrics sound oh-so-cool — the band has become an overnight social media sensation. The artistes perform outside the cafe, where guests are seated on neatly placed chairs in a sitting area across a parking lot.
The café, called Cakes Desire, is owned by 42-year-old Vivek Gulati, who is also a Congo player. Gulati says he is overwhelmed by the barrage of calls he receives each day.
“I was not ready for so much attention, but it’s really good. Our artistes are getting recognition,” Gulati says with a smile on his face.
In April 2022, Gulati hired an artiste named Rahul Shakiya, 40, to sing outside his cafe. The artist, who had been making a frugal living since the Covid-19 pandemic, readily accepted the offer and started singing every weekend. Within months, crowds started gathering to hear Shakiya, and a few guests even joined him during the music session.
And that’s how the sitting area came to be known as ‘Artist Chowk’. The term was coined in January 2023 by Gulati and his artistes after the performance received encouraging responses from people who would gather every weekend at 7 pm to attend the music session.
Teenagers, IT employees come together
Three months ago, Sonu Thakur, 28, left his job in the IT industry to pursue music full-time. It was a tough decision, but he claims he had Artist Chowk by his side. Now, Thakur never misses showing up at Cakes Desire to perform every Tuesday and Saturday. On Saturdays, they go beyond religion and expand their repertoire to Bollywood. They even sing Atif Aslam and KK.
Thakur was introduced to the cafe by Shakiya, who is his friend.
“Eight months ago, I saw Shakiya’s WhatsApp status video and asked him about it. The next day, I was with him outside the cafe, live jamming. And since [then], the journey has been upwards,” Thakur recalls his initial days as a performer, and it was then he realised that music was his ultimate calling.
He is joined by one of the youngest artistes in the band — 17-year-old Raj Jaiswal, who plays the guitar and was Thakur’s friend before he started performing at Artiste Chowk.
“Initially, I was not very confident. [I] would hesitate to sing before people,” says Jaiswal with a chuckle. The teenager is prepping to join a music school for graduation.
A few of the artistes in the band were once audience members who found the performance inspirational and made a part-time shift to music. Azhar Khan, a native of Jharkhand and manager at a software company in Gurugram, is one.
“Last year in September, I attended the [performance at] Artiste Chowk because I was very fond of singing and eventually joined the artistes. I now perform at [another] cafe in Gurugram [as well],” Khan says. On weekdays, he goes to the office, and on weekends, he does music.
A platform for everyone
The ambience outside Cakes Desire is full of melody, exuberance, and laughter. Age no bar, people wait for the clock to strike 7 before streaming in to enjoy the music. Few sing along while others dance. For many, it’s a good opportunity to escape work stress; for others, it is a platform to discover their inner artist.
Gulati says he always dreamt of being a drummer, but the financial condition of his family didn’t allow him. So, when he opened the cafe four years ago, he kept brainstorming with his friends on ways to create avenues for artists who lack resources.
“It’s difficult to be an artiste. There are no proper channels, and many artistes don’t have resources to explore their art form. I always wanted to do something for them. All artistes are welcome. This platform is for everyone,” Gulati says as he taps the Congo with his fingers, and others hum a tune with him.
Seeing the popularity of Artiste Chowk, Gulati plans to take it to other states in India, starting from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The idea behind the tour, he claims, is to promote artistes and use the funds to help the struggling ones.
“[I say] Ayodhya because no one knew us before we started jamming [on] Hanuman Chalisa. So I want to start with thanking God,” he adds. He may as well rename his café as Thank God It’s Friday.
Two weeks ago, Gulati had randomly started singing Hanuman Chalisa with other artists. When they received a massive positive response, they decided that Tuesday would be their spiritual jamming day.
“I think Hanuman liked our modern version of his prayer,” Gulati says with a wink.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)