Coffee

A fig for partridges and quails,
ye dainties I know nothing of ye;
But on the highest mount in Wales
Would choose in peace to drink my coffee.
~Jonathon Swift

This post is solely dedicated to the queen of all beverages known to me, the quintessential coffee!

Amma’s cup:
Colour : Dark Brown
Sugar : Just right , not to sweet , not too bitter
Container : Tumbler + Dabara
Her Mood : Grumpy (I need to get back to work after this , tch tch )

Dad’s cup :
Colour : Pitch Black (perhaps a word that could describe black better?)
Sugar : 3 grains
Container : Neat looking china cup(with no chips/stains)
His Mood : Happy (Let see what the little one has to say !)

Altoid’s cup
Colour : Light brown (Very Very light , like there was a war and there was a scarcity of coffee powder )
Sugar : Apparently sugar is not scarce during the war
Container : Tumbler with the Dabara missing (Altoid loves the maid servant and believes in minimal use of utensils )
Her Mood : Disdain (I have to make coffee for THIS brat ? Primogeniture is non existent in this family)

Darshini Coffee : After a meal of 2 Idlys and a crispy vada soaked in chutney and sambhar , I actually can see angels in heaven.

9:45 Am Coffee : Ok , shove the bag(that absolutely HAS to match the outfit) into the cabinet , check mail , bound down the stairs , force the friend to take a breather , approach the coffee machine like its your long lost lover (Hmm , never ever had a present lover , anyway you get the drift ,no ? ) , (½ cup milk + ½ tsp sugar + ½ cup latte ) --tending towards infinite pleasure and infinite bitching about the company , its managers and the general exploitation all over the place.

Kalmane Coffee :

Meet your old friends , sip Kalmane’s Mysore filter kaapi that’s served in tumblers , gang up with your best friend , browse through the little library there , window shop , get back home all set to fight Sunday night blues

Café Coffee Day
Sit on minuscule chairs, try to holler out to your friends, lean back and find yourself almost on the lap of the person breathing behind you, wait for eons for a cup of crushed ice and milk, and oh yes,with some coffee in it

Airlines Hotel
Sunday mornings are for book club meets, hot masala dosa and coffee served in tall glass tumblers with a spoon thrust into it

Now that all is well that ends well, let us end it with another quote

Be a coffee drinking individual – espresso yourself!

Ok , did I hear a groan there?

* Image courtesy , google

Voice from the past

Yesterday was one of those days, depressing, boring and yet another of those “what the hell am I doing in this hell-hole working for these monsters” kinda days . Come 8:20PM the east-indian security guard blared over the intercom (his 30 seconds of fame for the day)

“Kompany transport will leeb in onother phibe mineets” . I shoved my unused pad and pen into the cabinet ,beats me why I set it aside EVERY single day , a vain hope that one fine day , I would be jotting down ideas for a Nobel prize winning thesis? Heehaw!

Ok, now the cabinet is my manager’s head... I gave it a resound kick, clapped my hands, there, that felt better, life’s all about venting ones anger on inanimate objects and unassuming friends.

Just as I loaded my play list, an unlisted number flashed on my mobile screen .Must be some consultant I thought. “Hello?” in my most put on professional accent.

“R?”

“?”

“Sigh, its me D”

“: )!!”

“Where are you and why do I hear traffic at this time of the night?”

“Work” I said sulkily.

The conversation went on, I didn’t care about the other two passengers in the cab, who were deprived of their dose of radio city and that sickly RJ who keeps calling herself my friend and drive time pal, bleah.

Continuing, D is my friend from my old company. I hadn’t mailed/called/met her since I joined the hell-hole .General wonderings about my health, stress levels ensued and then popped up the sawaal dus karor ka! Updates about my being single and when did I plan to jump headlong into holy matrimony. I pacified D saying it would all be in good time and hung up after promising to meet her on one of the weekends.

I went to bed remembering our group of 4 in my old company, the shared confidences and the unsaid words. Our brief stay in a house near office, the late night walks, the midnight roach scares and the makeshift dinners. Yes ,with a warm feeling and a pinch of sadness.