Guwahati: Meghalee, which has offered refreshment to Gauhati University (GU) students and faculty from the mid-seventies, has got a new address at the newly constructed GU market complex, a few metres away from its original site.

The tea stall, which has become an integral part of the university lore, was a place where ideas were discussed and debated. it was the "go to" place during the Assam movement between 1979-85 and those associated with it hope Meghalee would continue to churn out new stories at its new address.

Before Meghalee was demolished on Tuesday, a group of former and current students of GU, led by Matiur Rahman, former general secretary of Post Graduate Students' Union approached the authorities to preserve the tea stall as a heritage site. Some suggested that it can be conserved as a reader's paradise while others as a meeting point without damaging the old structure.

Rahman said, "We welcome the students' cooperation to conserve Meghalee as a heritage site because this is a historical place that has memories of thousands of students. We will approach chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Kamalpur MLA Satyabrata Kalita and others, who were former students of GU, for their help in preserving Meghalee as a heritage site."

The GU town advisory committee convener Sanjib Barua, however, said, "There is no question of conserving Meghalee as a heritage site as we have already planned to use the entire old market place for beautification."

Rabin Das, 54, has been managing Meghalee from the time of his post-graduation at Gauhati University. Meghalee was established by his brother Sailen Das in 1975, who is now an advocate at Gauhati High Court. Meghalee will complete 43 years on August 25.

"Meghalee is a place for sharing stories and intellectual debates for GU students for many years now. There is no end for Meghalee because this is an institution built up with the cooperation and participation of students and the authority of the GU," Rabin Das, who is sad but at the same time welcoming the change in address, said.

Das said, "This space under the open sky has been a source of inspiration for the students. A shift to a new place is a shift of a legacy to another place."

All other shops and restaurants were shifted on July 1 according to a GU authority order, which asked the shops to vacate the place by July 10. Meghalee shifted on Tuesday.