One of Bengaluru’s popular haunts, Atta Galatta has moved to a different location, and is back in full swing.
During 2020, the space in Koramangala shut down. However, it has now returned in a spruced-up avatar in Indiranagar. The space restarted with events in December last year.
Apart from a different decor, the place has an elaborate space dedicated to reading and events. Lakshmi Sankar, co-founder of the space, says, “The current space sports a contemporary look. The earlier one appeared truly traditional. We have two levels in this place; we have a cafe with a reading section in the first level, and below that, we have the book store and event space.” This was a conscious decision. “In the past, we often had to disturb people while they were reading or they were forced to join our events,” she says.
The cafe section has around 5,000 books, which includes old editions of Sportstar, children’s books, and fiction and non-fiction books. “The bookstore has a total space for 25,000 books — 15,000 on the racks and 10,000 in storage. It includes a lot of children’s titles from Tulika, Pratham and Tara Books, Amar Chitra Katha, Penguin etc; fiction and non-fiction books, cookbooks, books in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and some Bengali titles, and on plays,” she says.
Talking about the performance area, Lakshmi says “it is a soundproof and noiseless experience”. The space can seat around 70 people. “While our regular book club activities have started, we plan to bring back more events like ‘Yatigati’, which used to feature dancers, and plays, children’s events, storytelling sessions, book discussions, and poetry sessions,” she says. ‘Anjuman’, an evening of Hindi and Urdu poetry, is being planned for every month.
For details, call 96325 10126.