When Netflix launched the Vikrant Massey-starrer eight-episode romantic drama Musafir Cafe, one thing that caught viewers’ attention was its inviting, warm and verdant location.A month after the series was released, answers to viewers’ questions about the location have been emerging on social media, with people who lived right next to the cafe sharing their memories and stories.They include alumni of one of India’s top-ranked boarding schools — Oak Grove School in Mussoorie — which stands next to the location used as Musafir Cafe in the series.“The Oak Grove was located right next to this British-era castle where Musafir Cafe has been shot,” Major General S C Meston, an alumnus of Oak Grove and a decorated Army veteran with 40 years of distinguished service in the Indian Army, told The Tribune. He passed out of the Oak Grove in 1978.In fact, Oak Grove School is the real landmark in the area, with the story of the castle unfolding alongside its history.Oak Grove School, the first railway hill school, was started in 1870 by the erstwhile Sindh, Punjab and Delhi (SPD) Railway, later known as the North Western Railway. It began at a bungalow called Fairlawn, which was part of the Rajah of Nepal’s estate and was located close to the present site of Oak Grove School.The Fairlawn School was merged with Oak Grove School in 1894 as the number of students increased and there was a shortage of staff to manage the school.Owned and run by the Indian Railways since June 1, 1888, the school is situated amid the verdant hills of Mussoorie in north India. It stands on the Oak Grove estate, which derives its name from the mighty oak trees dotting the area, and lies halfway along the bridle path from Rajpur to Mussoorie.According to the school’s records, its sprawling estate at Jharipani covers 317.043 acres.“The Oak Grove was established during British times for railway kids. British railway officers who couldn’t send their wards to England to study would send them to Oak Grove. Even today, the residential school is meant for Indian Railway officers’ children and there’s a tough all-India entrance for admissions,” said Meston.He recalled his childhood memories of the castle, which now serves as the principal shooting location for Musafir Cafe.“The Musafir Cafe in the series is actually a castle the British used as a guest house for their soldiers and officials. Later, after Independence, locals started calling this castle Patiala House because the Maharaja of Patiala made it his summer retreat. Then, years later, it turned into an abandoned property and when I was at Oak Grove, locals used to say this castle was haunted,” he said.“So it was refreshing to see the castle become the principal shooting location in a hit OTT series,” said Tina Jha, who passed out of Oak Grove in 2006 and, as a student, ran many marathons past what will now be better known as Musafir Cafe.