Every once in a while there are nights that make you fall in love with a city. At Daspan House Jodhpur, such nights seem to come one after the other courtesy the Soapbox Initiative – a series of artistic collaborations discerningly curated by its young and ever-so-gracious owner Thakur Siddharth Singh of Daspan along with his childhood friend Varun Jalan.
“Soapbox was conceived with a vision to celebrate diverse ethnicities, cultures and performing arts under the unifying umbrella of great hospitality,” says Siddharth, an alumnus of the prestigious Mayo College Ajmer and Istituto Marangoni Milan. “The aim of this initiative is to offer our patrons a chance to discover and appreciate extraordinary music, timeless traditions and eclectic cuisine against the quaint backdrop of a century-old family home recently restored into a vibrant heritage hotel.”
Masked behind a discreet façade in a quiet residential area, Daspan House with its symbolic long-standing palm tree is like the proverbial oasis of peace and tranquillity. Whether it’s the intricately carved sandstone structure shimmering breathtakingly under the desert sun, the soothing sound of the marble fountain gently reverberating in the courtyard, or the exquisite taste of culture-soaked cuisine accompanied by choicest home-grown liquor, Daspan House is a destination that satiates all five senses to perfection.
Besides its elegant design sensibility and personalised detail to attention, what gives further impetus to this marvellous destination is its ever-growing culture quotient with the Soapbox Initiative. From hosting an artist residency program to inviting a celebrated guest to take over the bar for an evening to partnering with diverse performing artists, Siddharth Daspan believes in brewing something new every few days.
“With an aim to push the boundaries of what typically constitutes the music genre in our city, we recently planned a unique event to appeal both to the ears and feet of our patrons” smiles Siddharth. Jazzing up the music scene of Jodhpur, Daspan House hosted an experimental celebration of new age jazz with the brilliant Vashita Ramesh aka Huyana. Thrilled with the response of the attendees, he says, “The jazz night was a shot in the dark, but an increased curiosity about this genre since our event endorses my belief that it perfectly reflected the spirit of cultural exchange.”
Nothing spells cultural camaraderie better than food. The idea to promote regional cuisine in a non-restaurant like an ambience led to Soapbox Tastemakers where one long community table is set up on a chosen evening, and one home chef is invited to cook up their specialities which the guests can relish in family-style sharing portions in the cosily lit gardens of Daspan House. The first home cook in this series was Kunwarani Lakshmi Kumari from the house of Hariadana whose love for cooking and feeding was confined to her social circle all these years. For the first time, people from her city and travellers from beyond got the opportunity to savour her specialities like slow-cooked mutton bootha, buttermilk fried chicken, baingan bharta ka raita and rasgulla ki kheer among other delicacies. “The idea is to enable our guests to savour the taste and soak in the legacy of the cuisine” says Varun Jalan, Head of Guest Experience at Daspan House. “We have created this event in a way where the Tastemakers not only cook, but also play host to a party of guests and regale them with stories of their family’s culinary traditions.”
While each event under the Soapbox Initiative has earned rave reviews, the occasion I attended was an evening filled with Sufi ragas, poetry and nostalgia about a month ago, featuring a talented repertoire of artists from Marwar. Sufi Rang by Govind Singh Bhati and Co. was one of those rare events where the performers enjoyed performing as much as the audience enjoyed listening to them. Seeing the artists lose themselves in their performances and sing purely as people who love their art was such a rewarding experience.
Sufism is never defined by boundaries. The way the music of the mystics transcends across forms, Siddharth Daspan’s Soapbox Initiative brings together an unusual assortment of patrons from all walks of life. While attending this event, I made friends with a museum curator from Mehrangarh, a political strategist from New Delhi, a history professor from Ajmer, and a lawyer from Ahmedabad all of who reiterated the Soapbox Initiative’s syncretic faith. “Every art whether culinary or performing must grow organically in the mind and soul of the audience” feels Siddharth. The beauty of this collaborative culture series lies in the fact that it does not assault your senses. It paves way for you to surrender. No wonder, it has rightly earned a proud place in the city’s ever brimming social calendar.
This article was first published in The Daily Guardian. All rights reserved.
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