Humour on the Walls

A good example is The Hidden Place in Koregaon Park. The name fits the place like a glove because it is tucked away from the traffic madness of the North Main Road,and is a reliable haunt for beer and great food. But the ‘art’ on the walls of this place is just as interesting. There are framed pictures of Mona Lisa and Renaissance-style cherubic babies,all blissfully smoking. “We had been collecting posters for many years before we started the bar,” says its owner Sunil Chandani. Close to 48 posters of tongue-in-cheek quotations,college humour and reverential photographs of rock stars dot some other walls. “They have been collected from all over,some are from South Africa,some from the USA,while we got some made here through an artist. We wanted them to reflect the three aspects of this place – music,sports and drinks,” he adds.

Sky Garage is a popular live music,drinks and food joint in Aundh. Every little hint of light in this place falls over the wall hangings,which are all copies of old rusted car number plates from all over the world. Another Aundh restaurant that has added a dose quirkiness to its walls is Cafe Maroo. The Korean specialty eatery has wood-paneled interiors with beautiful showpieces all over them. But a small corner wall has been turned into a post-it wall. Patrons can come in and leave back notes on the little chits. “There are so many of them now,we can’t even read all,” laughs Chang Soo Kim,owner of Cafe Maroo. Though quirky,the detail adds a special personal touch to the place,evident by the profuse praise on the post-its. “They enjoy leaving behind messages,” agrees Kim.

It’s not only the watering holes where walls are being spruced up . Yolkshire in Kothrud is a small eating joint by the road. The egg-specialty place is low on furniture frills but has filled its little reception space with avant garde pictures of things resembling an egg. One frame shows a jersey cow looking at an egg-shaped structure,while another is a photo of an egg-shaped stadium. The effect is hilarious. “We had many ideas,like making cartoons of eggs. Ultimately we agreed to put up pictures of monuments and antiques shaped like eggs. It had to be unusual,different from,say,putting up pictures of egg recipes,” says Kundan Ruikar,from Anunaad,the creative agency which helped Yolkshire’s branding. Chandani is now in the process of adding a pop art mural to one of the walls at The Hidden Place. “I don’t see it as an investment,it is an asset. It keeps the look of the place fresher. Many customers even take pics of the posters when here.”