Of coffee and conversations

Last few evenings have been great. Post work i.e. :)

A colleague had come over home one of the evenings and stayed over. We (room mates included) sat and spoke till may be 2 am. Another evening, I was invited for dinner to a friend's place. We ( a bunch of us) stayed till late enjoying conversations over beer and dinner.

Both the nights, I don't remember what we spoke about, as there was nothing specific. The conversations were free flowing moving deftly from economy to religion, oil industry prospects to Tendulkar's innings in Chennai in 1999 to election strategies. We poked fun at each other, cracked some silly jokes, caught up on each others lives, took a couple of snaps and later reluctantly called it a night - courtesy 8 am meetings.

Both the evenings left all of us with a warm fuzzy feeling. As I reflect back, it is not just the conversation but the people who made the difference. Genuinely nice, warm, no hang ups, willing to listen and share and most importantly able to convert just-being-together-time to I-had-a-great-time. I am lucky and privileged to have such friends and acquaintances.

It took me back to college days. I like coffee houses. A lot. In fact, one of the books I am reading currently is 'The Coffee House – A Cultural History’ by Markman Ellis. Quite a good read. A friend of mine from college and I shared this fascination for coffee places. We would always be on the lookout for new coffee places in Madras.

This one time, we went to an old 1940s mansion, in a small by lane. The ceiling had these huge heavy wooden bars running across painted in deep dark brown, the walls painted in rust and earthy brown shades. There was a woody smell to the place, the nostalgic type. We were there for a private movie screening. I don't remember the movie a bit but what I remember is the coffee place in their balcony. I rarely hear of houses these days (let alone see) which have huge balconies.

We sat in the balcony, post the screening sipping our cuppas. Our conversation was lyrical amidst the operatic cacophony of bird -chirps. They were returning home, just as the sun enjoying its little swan song, was painting the sky crimson and brown and orange and finally black. It was beautiful. It was so beautiful that that evening scene is photographically etched in my memory. I can close my eyes anytime and remember all the details.

This other time we visited a coffee place that overlooks the sea. We sat in the open air balcony, sipping our coffees and chatting till way past midnight I think, till they closed down and asked us to leave. In fact while the orders closed much earlier, we cajoled the staff to let us stay while they cleaned up the place. It was a full moon night. The moon was right above the sea and it formed a path of light, as if showing the way to some place. The waves washed up tirelessly thus providing us a rhythmic backdrop. Peace!

I nurture this tiny dream of setting up a coffee house. A place where one could meet new people or catch up with old friends. It would be a place that enables and fosters conversations - from intellectually charged discussions to gossips and friendly banter. A place from where when you walk out, you feel warm and fuzzy. Inshallah!