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Anjali Prayag

Bangalore's newest hotspot, Cheers is quite an experience. It has all the trappings of fun, entertainment and gourmet food, minus the cocktails, of course.

There was more than one reason for setting up a place like `Cheers' in Bangalore. First, the city of clubs, pubs and cafes needed a new movement in `hangout joints.' Second, teetotallers in the city needed a less hazy, smoky option than a pub to meet their family and friends. Third, Bangalore needed a healthy entertainment centre for all age groups.

And so last year, Gulu Assomoll, a Bangalore-based businessman kicked off a new concept in `Cheers: A Library in a Teetotaller's Tavern'. According to Ravindranath Singh, Manager, Business Development, Cheers, "We wanted to revive the reading habits of Bangaloreans which seems to have died in recent years. In addition, we wanted to make it a good `hangout' place." In fact, within a year, the city has two Cheers centres now.

But Singh and his team realised that giving guests just coffee and books will be the run-of-the-mill thing to do. What the much-travelled Bangalorean needed was a new idea in leisure and lifestyle. And so Singh added value to the concept: A home theatre for movie and music lovers, a pasta place for food lovers, an audio book club for avid readers and much more under one roof.

Though the first outlet of Cheers is limited by the space available, the second outlet at Koramangala is a mini multiplex. It has two separate movie halls where about 40 members and their guests can watch movies of their choice on the big screen. Members can book slots and movies in advance and "it's far more comfortable and cheaper for the members than going to a movie theatre," according to Singh. The library at both the centres has a huge collection of VCDs and DVDs covering all languages. "If we do not have a particular CD which a member may wish to watch, we ensure that is made available as soon as possible."

Cheers also has a `Television Lover's Club,' which encourages members to watch high quality television soaps and serials from the US and the UK, some of which have never been aired in the country. Cheers has stocked about 70 of these serials which were popular before the cable TV invasion. "Most people have missed watching them and so we want to make it available for them." Interestingly it has also a large collection of popular Pakistani serials.

Cheers has an interesting activity for the new-age bibliophile lined up: An Audio Book Club. The Club has more than 3,000 books on the CD. Singh says it has encouraged many people to read and listen to the books of their choice simultaneously or do it individually. "And our collection is for all age groups, starting from the under-fives," Singh says.

Children also have the option of playing indoor games such as chess, scrabble, carom and the like. To interest the children, Cheers has also thrown in a Sony Play Station II. The regular library at the centre has stocked fiction and non-fiction books and magazines (Indian and international) to capture the interest of a wide cross section of members.

And Cheers makes sure that its members don't have to go hungry while satiating their intellectual needs. "The drinks bar has only non-alcoholic beverages because we want to retain the `family' kind of atmosphere here," according to Singh. The restaurant, called Pasta Hut, is a big hit with the members. It also gives customised food to members if orders are placed in advance.

Cheers has some plans lined up on the health front too. A health management centre will be thrown open to members soon with facilities such as a sauna, steam bath and Jacuzzi within the centre.

Membership at Cheers involves a first-time registration fee of Rs 1,000 and a monthly payment of Rs 100, "which is all you pay for using our facilities at the centre," Singh says. It is only for borrowing books or CDs at home that members pay extra.

The time that a member can spend at Cheers is limitless. "You can hang around here the whole day and make use of all our facilities. For Rs 100 a month you get 30 quality days," says Singh.

With two Cheers centres and 300 members in Bangalore now, Singh and his team are aggressively looking at setting up more such centres. "We are considering the franchise option. Once we have established ourselves in Bangalore, we plan to move to other cities," he says. But does he think the concept will succeed well in India? "Why not?" he questions, "People are tired of surfing channels at home or visiting malls or having a hurried coffee in a café. This is definitely a better option."

Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar

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