Taste of life: Revolution on the menu at Pune Bhojangruha

“Pune Bhojanagruha” was started by Narayan Ramchandra & Co and actively supported by Vishnushastri Chiplunkar and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, as is evident from advertisements and articles that appeared in “Kesari”

The opening of “Pune Bhojangruha” in June 1881 heralded a new beginning for Pune city. Even though the first “native” restaurant in erstwhile Maharashtra shut down within four years, it paved the way for others.

Even though the first “native” restaurant in erstwhile Maharashtra shut down within four years, it paved the way for others. (Getty Images/iStock/Representative Photo)

“Pune Bhojanagruha” was started by Narayan Ramchandra & Co and actively supported by Vishnushastri Chiplunkar and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, as is evident from advertisements and articles that appeared in “Kesari”.

Who was Narayan Ramchandra? Why did he start a restaurant in conservative Pune? Why did one of the most popular leaders of the time, Chiplunkar, his friends, and associates take an active interest in the “Bhojanagruha”?

Since the “Bhojanagruha” served only Brahmins, it was clear that Narayan Ramchandra would have been one. It was most likely that he was a Chitpavan Konknastha Brahmin, because the economy of erstwhile Pune was dominated by this caste. He lived in Pune between 1881 and 1885.

Looking for Narayan Ramchandra without a surname was cumbersome. It was customary in Maharashtra to not use surnames till the end of the 19th century. Surnames appeared in the public sphere after the British established universities and schools and made the usage of surnames compulsory. Still, many preferred not using their surnames. Like, Narayan Ramchandra. He might also have not used his surname because of the stigma associated with public dining.

However, none of them were the proprietor of the “Bhojanagruha”. I was able to trace the families of most of these men and found that they had no association with “Bhojanagruha”. “Kulavruttantas” (documentation of clans bearing the same surnames) corroborate this conclusion.

The reports of Poona Municipality published between 1881 and 1920 do not mention “Pune Bhojanagruha” at all. They do, however, mention a few Narayan Ramchandras. NR Dikshit had a feud with the municipality because the latter seized some of his lands for widening a lane. NR Alawani had supported a candidate in the municipality elections held in 1895. Dikshit had passed away in 1882, and Alawani was a priest who spent his entire life at the Modi Ganpati temple.

There were several other Narayan Ramchandras in the kulavruttantas, both Narayan and Ramchandra being fairly common names. None of them seemed to have anything to do with the “Bhojanagruha”. It was easy to rule them out because they did not live in Pune in the early 1880s.

On January 25 and February 22 in 1881, “Kesari” published lists of donors and subscribers. These included the Royals from Baroda and Indore, “noble” families like Kibe, Natu, Mujumdar, and Paranjape, and social leaders like Mahadev Govind Ranade and Moreshwar Mahadev Kunte. There were several distinguished gentlemen from other parts of Maharashtra. However, one name in the list caught my attention - Narayan Ramchandra Pongashe. He had visited the “Kesari” office himself and had subscribed to the newspaper for Re. 1.

According to the “Ponkshe Kulavruttanta”, born in 1849, Narayan Ramchandra Ponkshe (also spelled as Pongashe) worked in a government office for a few months after passing his matriculation exam. But, craving for independence and not wanting to work for the British, he resigned and opened a grocery shop in Budhwar peth which he ran dedicatedly for 35 years. He passed away in 1919. The entry in the kulavruttanta does not mention any restaurant.

I was able to trace his family which unfortunately did not know about the “Bhojanagruha”. However, some events in Pokshe’s life point towards his likely association with Chiplunkar and “Pune Bhojanagruha”. Ponkshe and Chiplunkar were born a year apart. They were neighbours while growing up in Pune. Ponkshe was one of the few outside the royalty and nobility to have subscribed to “Kesari” during the first month of its inception.

During the first year of its publication, “Kesari” published only a few ads. Those came from Dr Garde, who was one of the owners of the newspaper, Nuserwanjee Nowrojee, the owner of Napier Hotel and an ice factory, Rawji Shridhar Gondhalekar, the publisher, and “Pune Bhojanagruha”. Nowrojee and Gondhalekar were subscribers of the newspaper. So was Ponkshe, a fact that points towards the possible ownership of the restaurant.

However, a series of reports published in the newspaper “Native Opinion” from June 1879 bolster the claim that Ponkshe ran “Bhojanagruha”. On the night of May 13, 1879, both Visrambaugwada and Budhwarwada caught fire. Vishrambaugwada housed the Government English School and the office of the Education Inspector. Budhwarwada had the Government Treasury, Magistrate Courts, a temporary jail, post office, Government Marathi School, Poona Native General Library and the government book depot. Vishrambaugwada survived the fire, but Budhwarwada burned down to ashes.

The police initially suspected that Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, the freedom fighter, was behind the arson. After a week of investigations, they arrested Krishnarao Ranade, the keeper of the book depot in Budhwarwada, his son Keshav and the manager Shyamrao Ballal. It was revealed that Ranade and Ballal had forged receipts for many years and had committed fraud. After realising that they would be caught, they set the wada on fire, in the hope that the financial records would be destroyed, and the act would be blamed on Phadke. .

Narayan Ramchandra Ponkshe was mentioned by Keshav as a friend of Phadke. According to the report in “Native Opinion”, Ponkshe, Moro Balwant Khare, Chinto Bhikaji Vaidya, Vishnu Balwant Khare, Govind Bhikaji Date, and Ganesh Deodhar would often spend time at the Khunya Murlidhar Temple. They were educated, but unemployed and wanted to fight against the British. They had requested Phadke to teach them warfare techniques. The request was turned down because Phadke was not willing to teach them for free. All the men were interrogated and were found to have no role in the arson.

This incident, however, establishes Ponkshe as a staunch nationalist, and someone Chiplunkar would be fond of. Ponkshe was educated, hated the British, and did not want to serve them. Chiplunkar encouraged youngsters who harboured nationalist thoughts and encouraged them to start “native” institutions and businesses. Chiplunkar and Ponkshe might have come together to start a restaurant, which they felt was necessary for the development of the city and the country.

Narayan Ramchandra Ponkshe’s name did not appear in print after the fire. The ads stopped after 1882 and the restaurant shut down in 1884. Ponkshe’s immense contribution to the hospitality industry in Maharashtra has unfortunately never been acknowledged. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar’s monumental efforts to encourage men and women to start restaurants have been forgotten too. More about this next week.