This is definitely not a start-up. Why? because Co-founders Avneesh Gadgil and Rushad Wadia have already been successful in Pune. Three areas that welcomed them were Kothrud, Prabhat Rd, and Fergusson College Rd, with Koregaon Park just about ready to open. Here right now, the Book bar is-let me explain-this is not a bookstore, yes, the interiors house pre-loved books, thus encouraging people to read, to communicate through narrations, maybe break the ice by reaching to see what’s on the rack. The idea behind this whole enterprise is food and coffee, music and Pizza, all conducive to hanging out to enjoy a slower time in life, away from the bustle and hustle. Quite the idea, this.

Meeting with the founder/owner, the man who is just 35 and raring to go with this very idea, in Mumbai. Pune was this duo’s litmus test. I found myself asking this young entrepreneur, storyteller, cultural curator, the man who had clearly understood the need of the hour, some pertinent questions. 

He was eager to answer- ‘Pune first because I am a Maharashtrian and it is my hometown. Our first Book bar, which opened in Kothrud, was indeed a litmus test like this one in Pali Village in Mumbai. But the strange thing was that in Pune it lasted all of one month. We actually broke even in that short period. The response we got was so loud, as people just loved it and made us very sure about how quickly we wanted to start the second one, within that same year, that a third in the span of came as quickly as six months thereafter.’

What were they both thinking of when they started this enterprise?

‘Honestly, we are a speciality-forward café first; we source coffee from all over, from different farms, and have a sizeable coffee menu. The second part is where we offer preloved books to people who are already readers, not a conventional bookstore per se. The idea is just for people to have access to reading. I have never been a voracious reader, nor is Rushad one, but it seems to have it all worked out all right.’

So the duo manages the show pretty well: Avneeesh is the front and the spokesperson, and Rushad manages the back end (a very introverted Parsi who sees no need to come to the front). Together, they have got the theme right. Their invite said it all. It came as a cassette that detailed Side A and Side B. Very clearly, it meant that Side A was the rush, the bustle, the flurry, the blur of the City, and Side B was the flip side. That would offer the customers a way out, a flip side to all that maze. Almost like Side A incorporates Side B. Clearly, the duo are starting a sort of movement.

The plans forward?

‘We realise that there are a lot of coffee places all over, and we are also aware that we have started a movement of sorts, and yes, we have tweaked this whole concept.

Since we have started a sort of subculture where we have allowed people to become. a large part of who they are. Like, there are cafes in the world that literally allow no phones. At some point, we will introduce no-phone hours or days to encourage people to actually communicate. The cafés already encourage communication, since the tables are so close together and help break down social barriers. Our idea is to create a space for people to hang out, but how well they take to it is really up to them.’

Their work sits at the intersection of culture, community and intentional living. Sometimes slow living is mistaken for no work, no buzz, doing nothing, but it is actually very intentional. People visiting the book bar can actually make it their two-hour window to relax, to catch up, to listen to music, just anything, but you have to take that time off. That is the seed that they have sown.

What actually got him started.

Avneesh is a hardcore Punekar and from a business family- with a father from the renewable energy sector and a mother who is a French teacher. I guessed that there must have been another dream that Avinash had, and he shared, ‘I wanted to be a sportsman, a cricketer, I wanted to play for the country, but fate had other plans. I even chose commerce so I could follow the sports quota, and I did. I captained for Maharashtra till I turned 21, even went off to coach in Singapore, but the politics drove me out, and in retrospect, I feel I gave it up too soon.’

Later, Avneesh needed to change careers, and he tried the family business from 21 to 24 years of age, but somehow couldn’t get a feel for who he actually was. He wasn’t the one for routine and a structured kind of life. But he still applied to a master’s program in environmental technology to help with his father’s business. He luckily got into one of the best colleges in the UK, but for some weird reason, his visa didn’t come through. It was as if he was fated to stay in India. So the next thing that followed was that he moved into the event management scene (Wizcraft) and moved to Delhi, thinking he would continue with sports-related events. Life in Delhi and working in events were chaotic to another level, but Avneesh is so grateful today for that phase of his life because it led him to make different decisions and actually choose the kind of life he loves now. 

So here we are today, reminiscing about how Wizcraft taught him all the lessons to be creative and use strategy fairly. Post covid 2021/22, fate played its cards again, and as Avneesh evolved, he ended up with a health condition (AVM) created by the vaccines, which disrupted his work life again. He had to return to his hometown to get better. Choices were made, and life decisions had to be changed all over again. But not one to ever say die, Avneesh wants people to know that everything can be overcome if one tries hard enough. Life goes on. Interestingly, two flatmates (Avneesh and Rushad, both working at Wizcraft) decided to go their separate ways, gaining different experiences in different places. Rushad went into hospitality, while Avneesh went into fitness. Coming back to Pune, living with the family brought Avneesh a different kind of awareness.

It’s not that these boys didn’t have other thoughts and businesses cooking. This generation is always into more things than one, which, in my opinion, is a must. Avneesh went on to share that he is also the co-founder of Good Indian, a mindful activewear-at-leisure brand built around identity, movement, and conscious living. It is actually exercise wear from recycled plastic bottles. A B2C business that they ran online for a year and a half. (2023-24). Their first stint in entrepreneurship in a very tough and competitive field. Apparel was not the easiest. Consequently, they have run out of funds and are now waiting for VC funding to materialise. Avneesh has always been deeply rooted in storytelling and creating brands that feel human rather than transactional. 

It was at this time that, while Avneesh was in Paris to see his sister, he did the whole coffee run around. At the time, he ran his activewear brand from cafés online; he was that guy in the café, understanding the needs. He became a customer first, not knowing that it would all lead to building his very own Book Bar Café. It all just came down together, and he exclaimed- ‘An idea whose time has come becomes a very powerful thing!

And then, as they say, the rest is history!