In a city like Mumbai, space is hard to come by. But at Adagio, believe it or not, you have all the space to chill out, rented out for free, without any questions asked.
For music lovers, in particular, just a peek inside Adagio is paradise, welcoming you to a party. “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on” goes the lyrics of the famous Led Zeppelin track Stairway to Heaven, inscribed on the staircase wall as I climb up the stairway leading up to the quaint music lifestyle studio to enter Adagio. Once inside you’re into Rockland, a road to classic rock days. Headbangers would love this space, as you enter its basement titled ‘Take Me Down …….Paradise City’, it’s a place “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”.
With guitars of all shapes and sizes placed on the wall, you can pick up one and just strum a tune. You cannot miss the notations from classic rock bands/albums splashed on the wall, or the little scribbled chits of paper adorning the iconic replica styled ‘The Wall’. Walk down the stairs to the basement and you have a well set up audiovisual experience waiting for you. Plump yourself on the carpeted floor and browse through a wide range of books there.
The tiny space, enough to accommodate 100 – 120 people is open to anyone. Aman Singh Gujral, the founder of Adagio, tells us that the idea behind all this was purely due to the honest and passionate love for appreciation of art and music and to simplify the process for learning music especially an instrument like the guitar, which he is very passionate about. “We were inspired by all things analogue, right from listening to music on vinyl records to practising yoga for fitness, reading a book (hard copy) or any other form of art involving as much human vibes into it”.
The word ‘Adagio’ according to Gujral, is a musical tempo ranging within 66 to 76 bpm syncing with natural body rhythm or heart rate. The literal meaning of Adagio in Italian would be “at ease”. “That was exactly the kind of experience we had in mind while choosing the name. Soon after that, we decided to drop a slogan “It’s a state of mind”, not restricting ourselves to guitar and yoga, but to have a broad scope for other analogue activities for the future. “Analogue” & “living at ease” are the state of mind we keep referring to every time.”
Gujral has a background of working in a CA firm as an Internal Auditor who dropped out of the CA course at the final stage to start Adagio. “I strongly believe in Steve Jobs’ philosophy of “Connecting the Dots”. I admire and pay credits to everything I learnt, as many of those processes helped me develop an organizational system at Adagio. The way Adagio management functions are simply astonishing”.
But the big question however is, if everything is for free, how do they make ends meet. “Since our inception about 2 years ago, we have trained about 500 members for guitar at our Chembur branch and about 100 at our Bandra. Besides, we have members attending our yoga sessions and utilizing the ambience as a co-working experience. Also, we encourage trade in vinyl records” states Gujral. And talking about vinyl records, Adagio also holds vinyl listening sessions every alternate Thursday at both venues. “For our vinyl nights, we turn out the lights in our basement and listen to an entire album. Once it’s done, we then turn on the lights and have a sharing experience based on the album, the music, some trivia and anything anyone wants to share about the album”, says Gujral’s whose collection consists of around 300 LP records ranging from classic rock, metal and blues.
If you need some co-working space, Adagio is your best bet. Here you can have coffee, listen to records, borrow CDs and music prescriptions, hang out and explore the studio, buy a guitar or get your guitar serviced/repaired, trade-in records, buy a record player, or just indulge in anything productive.
Words of the song ‘Hotel California’ are so true… “Such a lovely place, such a lovely place….”
