Cafes

Third Place, coffee house, Raleigh

I don't know whether it is the coffee or the ambiance, but there is something about cafes which makes them seem very warm and welcoming to me. I remember my first impression of a coffee house. It was the India Coffee House in Bangalore, MG Road. We were walking around MG Road and it seemed like the perfect coffee place to take break.

India Coffee House, MGRoad, Bangalore 

It was a simple and clean place where the coffee and tiffin was just perfect. It had a colonial look to it with its solid wooden furniture and high ceiling and liveried waiters. Unfortunately, the Indian Coffee house has now shifted away from its prime location on MG Road. It is now relocated on Church street. More swanky stylish cafes and bistros have come up to take its place on MG Road.

Back in Chennai, I never really went to a coffee house because I did get the best coffee at home. The only time I had coffee was when we ate a snack (tiffin) at restaurants like Woodlands Drive In or Ratna Cafe or some such place. These places certainly did not inspire anything intellectual or profound in me. They seemed like machines which served food and coffee in a steady stream. You just went there for the coffee and did not want to spend any more time there. Having said this, I will admit that Saravana Bhavan in Chennai serves one of the best filter coffees that I have tasted. Again, can't say that I would like sitting there for ever with a miniscule tumbler of filter coffee.

Woodlands Drive In
Many people think 'the late' Woodlands Drive In was the best coffee place ever on earth. I have been to it during my college days a few times. I seriously do not recollect anything more than a run down place, resembling a mess, which was too hot and humid and needed some amount of lighting. It seemed like an open smoking house which always had men sitting around doing nothing but drinking coffee and smoking. Sorry to say this but the Woodlands  Drive In was not my type of coffee house.

It was only after I got married and went to the US that I became more nostalgic about coffee and tea and the coffee houses. Thankfully, I got a husband who was interested in cafes, whether he cared about the coffee or not. It was there that I got introduced to the concept of 'cafes'. Cafes are more than just coffee houses. But the food was usually limited to sandwiches and soups, pastries and cakes. My husband and I used to spend a lot of time in cafes around Raleigh which served a variety of teas and coffees. They also had unique tea cakes or biscottis or pastries.  It was there that I learnt the difference between Assam Tea and Darjeeling Tea. I learnt to differentiate between tea leaves and dust. i realised that I liked a single shot of expresso in my short cup of coffee. I realised that I liked Latte or Mocha to Cappuccino.

The other thing about cafes in the US is their connection with books. Many major bookstores which were still running successfully then, like 'Borders' had their own coffee shops within their stores. We could just grab a book and almost finish reading it with a cup of coffee from the Coffee Shop. The connection between cafes and books were also seen in the location of cafes. They were very likely to be located near Universities or near old book stores. We have been to several old book stores and hopped into the cafes near them and spent an entire Sunday evening in this manner.

Third Place
Third Place in downtown Raleigh was one such place that I managed to get a picture of here. On a wet or cold evening The Third Place would be packed with people, making the place warm and cozy. On beautiful spring days, you could see people spilling out on the pavement right outside the cafe. They would read and sip a cuppa for hours as though it was their own living room.Inside the cafe, you could see the sandwiches being made and grilled to your taste. The walls of the cafe had paintings of budding artists, notices of various items on sale or exhibition. You could get to read a host of different magazines and newspapers.


It is said that JK Rowling used to spend her days writing in a small cafe in Scotland. She would write every day from morning till evening, keeping her baby in a stroller next to her. The cafe that she used to haunt, The Elephant House, has now become a tourist attraction .
 
So what is it that I like in a cafe? Well, firstly, it should serve reasonably good coffee or tea. The decor should be simple but comfortable. It should not be too tiny and should not be too grand or luxurious either. The setting must be open and inviting and the lighting is very important. I like cafes which let a lot of natural light into them. Many good cafes are great locations for people watching. If a cafe is facing the road and has wide open windows, its simply lovely to sit and watch the people walking by.


If there is one thing I hate about some of the new coffee places that are coming up these days in Chennai, it is the loud music played inside. They make the whole atmosphere resemble that of a disco or a bar. The highlight of the cafe should be that you have the freedom to be left alone and enjoy the coffee or the company. The Cafe Coffee Days would be certainly much better if they could tone down the music. 

The best cafe in Chennai, according to me, is 'Amethyst'. It was originally called the Mocha Cafe and was located in the ground floor of the Jaipur House in Gopalpuram. It has now shifted to a place on Whites Road, near Mount Road, near Sathyam Theatre. The first time we found out about this, we were so proud that someone had found the right way of presenting coffee and tea to Chennai. The owner, Kiran Rao has done an excellent job in creating the perfect atmosphere for coffee and conversation. I have spotted many a celebrity sitting quite unnoticed amidst the quiet and relaxing atmosphere of the Amethyst cafe. In that last 10 years in Chennai, many new cafes have been opened, but very few have been able to sustain themselves. It is heartening to see that Amethyst and Anokhee both owned by Kiran Rao are doing extremely well.

The merging of the classes seen in places like The Indian Coffee House cannot be seen in the modern day cafes. The Ratna Cafe and Rams Cafe are still the places where you can see people sit and get a good cup of coffee. There is no confusing the two types of Cafes. One creates an intimate setting, an atmosphere for creative pursuit, the other just serves good coffee. It is up to you to choose from the two. Is it the coffee or the cafe that is more important to you?

Local News

A community feeling and initiatives to improve the life of our fellow citizens is a positive sign in any city. I first came to know about 'The Mylapore Times' in the year 2000 or 2001. I don't know about Mumbai or Delhi, but back in 2000, a free local newspaper was a rarity. It is now 12 years and the number of local newspapers have increased steadily. Every major locality in Chennai like Adyar, Annanagar, Mogappair have their own weekly newspapers distributed free to the residents.

The reason I am so enthusiastic about these local newspapers is that it is not for profit and is totally centred on distributing information or making a public forum for people to interact or air out their grievances. Every Saturday, I look forward to browsing the Mylapore Times to know about activities for my child or new restaurants or advertisements for various exhibitions or just to know what is going on around me. I have myself written about a nice experience which was included in the online edition of the newspaper http://www.mylaporetimes.com/2013/04/a-tree-walk-for-kids-at-nageswara-rao-park/.

 Such newspapers give a feeling that you can make a difference in your community. It narrows down the focus to your home and your neighbours which is extremely important in a huge crowded city like Chennai.

For example, if there are civic problems in the area the best way to publicise it is through the local newspaper.

I think the biggest drawback in living in a big city is the isolation it creates. Many of us have got used to thinking that one person, one group cannot really make a difference. When the Mylapore Time was launched sometime in 1994, I am sure most people were sceptical about the success about the newspaper. But look at its circulation and popularity now.

Who takes the trash out? who cares?

A friend of mine who runs a library was trying to conduct a workshop for kids and adults about composting. She hired a consultant for this and gave out invitations to the members and her friends. But after several attempts at getting people to sign up for the workshop, she decided to cancel it for lack of numbers. She says that most people were not interested as they stayed in apartments and felt that it was messy to have a compost bin within their apartments.

When I heard this I realised that we are so caught up with the so called modern ways of living that we have to pay and induce people to do something natural.

I stay in the centre of the city near the house of a former Chief Minister. And even this part of the city has no garbage segregation whatsoever. All kinds of things are collected and thrown into one garbage truck. I sometimes wonder what would happen if the city runs out of places to dump garbage.

The problem is, garbage segregation, recycling or composting is something that has to be inculcated in our day to day lives. If segregation has to be done, it has to be the responsibility of the family members to keep the paper and the other bio-degradables in a separate bin. Many people feel that it is beneath their dignity to do anything remotely associated with recycling or segregating garbage in their homes. The don't like throw out their own garbage bags. Its always the maid who takes the trash out in a middle class household in India. Most people don't care what happens after that.

If people were forced to have compost bins, I am sure we would have a separate set of Corporation/Government workers who would be hired to do the work for us. They probably would wear green uniforms and ask us to give our biodegradable stuff to them. These people would then put the stuff in a central compost system in the locality and we would have a giant composting pit. I think this would be a more likely scenario in Chennai rather than training individual households to carry out composting.  And yet we would complain that the Government is extremely inefficient in their ways and garbage is never collected on time.

The point is not to become too pessimistic but I think to realise that the change has to be brought about to suit our unique lifestyle in India. There is hope as long as we still have kabbadiwalas roaming the streets. We still have places where we can sell our old newspapers and scrap and they do the segregation for us. There is a lot of recycling that happens through mechanics and service men who deal with electronics and appliances. An old appliance can still find a buyer in India. I  hope we see the day when we have recycle bins where we can put our plastic bags and containers in a grocery store in Chennai. Until then I will just hand them over to my maid who is always glad to get recycle it for me.

Strong Women

I came across the picture of Sarojini Naidu in an exhibition recently. It was an exhibition about the Indian National Movement and I was reminded of her remarkable career and life. People often forget that she is one of the few women who gained national importance during the freedom movement. She was one of the framers of the Indian Constitution. She was the first woman Governor in India (of the state of UP). Today she is totally overshadowed by Indira Gandhi.

 

She did her higher education in UK and yet she became an activist in the Indian freedom movement.She married a south Indian, a non-brahmin, which at the time was completely unacceptable. She led a normal married life and had 4 children. And today very few people would mention her when they talk about successful Indian women.  

I liked to look at the simple black and white photos at the exhibition which showed true and honest faces. They were not touched up or made up in any way. And what a contrast we have today when women in power have to constantly change their looks or style in order to look contemporary. Sarojini Naidu was a strong and intelligent woman who knew her mind and took her own decisions. She did not care for accolades or attention. Today, the importance has shifted only to the appearance of the famous women of power, not the substance. Whether it is Priyanka Gandhi or Michelle Obama, there is more attention given to their attire than their attitude.

Inspite of all this feminist talk, I find that I still  teach my daughter to be obedient and well mannered. Even when the child is most naturally well mannered I do check her behaviour when she expresses her disappointment with the world at large. I wish to rise above those conventional ideas and let my daughter assert herself and show her anger if she so wishes. Outward appearances and behaviour are not as important as the will power or internal strength of the person. Ultimately it is not niceness to others that matters as much as truth and honesty with your own self.