NEW AT BATLA HOUSE: PRAY, PAUSE, TALK & TEA

The tea room in Jamia Nagar that's got the neighbourhood buzzing. Is 'Sheeru,' Delhi's only all-women café?

- IFRAH MUFTI

IN the congested alleys of the Batla House neighbourhood where women had no place to relax or put their bags down after shopping or just to meet outside the home for a friendly chitchat, 'Sheeru Café' on the first floor at the Cosmos Plaza, has become a hidden-from-view, cosy leisure area for many.

In ones or twos or in a group, women dressed in delicate chikankari salwar kameez bought from local stalls, troop in into the café all through the day to pray, pause, or grab a bite. Located in a south-east Delhi neighbourhood in the heart of Jamia Nagar, this is, perhaps, the city's only all-women café.

Atiya Khursheed, 31, is the owner of the café. Concerned about the paucity of prayer space for women in the Batla House area, she waited for the Covid-19 lockdown to be lifted to open the café in July 2022.

"Initially, I used to think that I could just rent out a small space where women can pray. It was my husband's idea of creating a dedicated café for women where they can pray, pause, take a break from shopping, and eat," she added.