A cup of tea or an Indian film?

Tea shops in Peshawar have transformed into ‘cinemas’.

PESHAWAR:

When the cinemas of Peshawar were burnt to ash during angry protests that broke out against anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims, the city lost half its history. Not only were some of the oldest cinemas of Pakistan obliterated, there was effectively no movie theatre left where the average Peshawarite could unwind after a hard day’s work. Fortunately, for the entertainment-starved majority, necessity was the devoted mother of an invention in the form of cinemas at tea stalls. Small tea shops which are also known as story-teller hotels, have transformed into new cinemas or more precisely, entertainment venues.

While these hotels may have lost their primary purpose of getting friends together to narrate stories of the past, they now see a bustling crowd eager to lock their eyes to the screens.

“These story-teller hotels in Peshawar, like cinemas, are remainders of the city’s history,” says Mohammad Ibrahim Zia, author responsible for writing several books on Peshawar’s history. “The news and views exchanged here include those about traders from Karwan, central Asia and how they would have passed their time [during their journey] in such hotels.”

The venue is primarily occupied with men — ironically a large percentage being those who are actually against the idea of cinemas or any kind of entertainment — sipping Peshawari kahwa while sitting back and enjoying English movies, Indian films, women wrestling along with local entertainment dramas specifically CD dramas, which are famous for their vulgarity. As the aroma of kahwa and cardamom tea fill the air along with the smoke of tobacco, men, who some would call hypocrites, sit back and delve into all forms of sub-standard entertainment.

“Initially, professional raconteurs would entertain people by recalling old stories. And now, although the story-telling tradition is long gone, these small hotels still throb with activity as majority of them have televisions installed as a way of entertaining people,” he continues. Zia believes the government should ensure the protection of the country’s historical sites as it is what makes us who we are — gives us recognition. Unfortunately a number of these old tea shops have been transformed into stores for other business purposes such as garments and electrical supplies.

Akbar Khan, a tea shop owner in Qissa Khwani Bazaar, also spoke to The Express Tribune about the changing tradition and says: “The purpose of large screen televisions is to attract a maximum number of customers — people are fond of watching these movies.” All types of people are present at these venues, specifically those “honourable ones” who consider watching a movie in a cinema a shameful act — they come here and watch all types of programmes and movies.

Apart from being an entertainment venue, these hotels have also become a convenient location for smoking charas or hashish; hotel owners have powerful links with the police thus such practices are not forbidden. “As far as my hotel is concerned, I do not allow smoking,” Khan adds defensively in regard to this issue.

“The hotel owner usually switches off the TV when we are done with our cup of tea,” says Ghulam Ali, a customer of another tea shop, while smoking charas and enjoying an Indian movie. “So we have to purchase another cup in order to continue watching our programme or movie.” These small tea shops have two or more TV sets with different programmes being played simultaneoulsy in order to cater to everyone’s needs.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2012.            

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