Bajirao chiwada, mastani misal, thalpeeth, upwasachi misal, masale bhat, dadpe pohe, aloo wadi are the right kind of delicacies to start with. And while relishing don't be taken aback if some artist from the silver screen joins you, as one has the added pleasure of meeting a galaxy of stars of both Marathi and Hindi films and artists of various fields who choose this place to enjoy their moments of leisure.

Athithi Devo Bhava (A guest is like God) is what the 62-year-old Poona Guest House believes in, as they continue rendering services to the people and also dishing out delicious Maharashtrian food. Call it an artist's home as 80 per cent of the lodging facility are for the connoisseurs of art as they could rush in anytime during the busy shooting schedule or camp here during their performances.

Located in the heart of the city next to City Post, the Poona Guest House was started way back in the year 1936 by Nanasaheb Sarpotdar, a producer of soundless films and owner of the then Aryan theatre. He has produced more than 100 movies and two of his films have also received the president's award. Keeping up the trend of starting restaurants along with producing films, the thought of increasing his income drove him into this venture and thus was born this guest house which was the first of its kind.

The concept of a guest house and restaurant was new then and was soon accepted, as the needs of the artists was met since camping for them was a problem. He was given monetary assistance by Baburao Pendarkar and the owner of the Prabhat Studios, Vishnupant Damle. The artists working for the different productions were provided with food and also a rest place after their tiresome day.

After Nana, his wife Saraswatibai Sarpotdar took over the reigns and successfully managed the guest house. Soon their sons Bandopant and Charudatt Sarpotdar continued in their parents' footsteps. Bandopant tried this experiment in Delhi at Carol Bagh but did not receive the required response and soon had to close down. Catering to the Council Hall was carried along with the first mobile van business but that too did not catch on, so was soon shut down and Bandopant returned to Pune.

Meanwhile Charudatt Sarpotdar was managing the guest house and he soon went on to become the president of the hotel association and for the last 35 years he has been doing a lot of work in the field. The guest house went on to get a firm footing as Charudatt's son, Kishore, took over who inspite of having done his MBA, had dived into this business and has swam through for the last 15 years proving experience to be the teacher in this field.

Kishore who is the man behind the concept of the food festivals explains the benefits of being in this profession, ``I get to meet a lot of famous personalities and the liaison established is so strong that it continues within the family and the goodwill established is very satisfying in this business''.

The guest house has had no renovation and has maintained the old style with only some change in the office. Asked on whether any renovation plans are on the agenda, Kishore expresses his limitations by saying, ``Expansion is just not possible in this area but probably the internal structure can be given a new look''.

The famous biographer of Shivaji, Babasaheb Purandare who stages his play Janata Raja has also had a lot of association with this guest house. The famous artists of the Marathi screen have made this their nest, many a time with people like Chandrakant, Suryakant, Ramesh and Seema Deo, Bal Gandharva, Vasant Pawar, Vasant Bapat, all resting here between their busy shooting schedules. Many have written plays here in this guest house and have later gone on to become famous, one of them being Bal Kolhatkar who wrote the famous play Vahato Hi Dhruvanchi Judi. The others who used this place to exhibit their skills were Dada Kondke and Gadi Marudkar.

The guest house has also the credit of catering to the KEM Hospital and in the past during the deluge of the Panshet flood in 1962, food was given free to thousands who were rendered homeless. Many homes and orphanages too are provided with food from this guest house. At present various catering assignments are taken in for marriages and personal supervision is rendered by Kishore.

Though the guest house caters only to Maharashtrian food the outdoor catering includes all kinds of cuisine. The food festival which is organised by Kishore experiments with various kinds of cuisine and housewives are given the opportunity to come up with new dishes.

With many artists visiting this place and Kishore increasing his liaisons, this 62-year-old guest house looks forward to have many more years and with hospitality being its other name, the century doesn't seem too far.