Coffee and me!

  My romance with coffee shops is a very recent one. As is my liking for coffee. From detesting its bitterness to actually liking the lighter, albeit a bit bitter, version of it, i actually crave for it now. And only the ones that cafés serve. Home made never gets that taste. Not even instant Starbucks sachets. So a good reason to go to cafés of all places. And then gradually, a cup of coffee became more than just that.

i think my frequent visits to coffee shops started from the need to get out of home and go somewhere outside. Like most people long to go home at the end of the day, as a freelancer, i crave to escape home. Coffee shops happen to be non threatening places where one can sip coffee and sit for hours. So, that cup of coffee became almost a stress buster while i read/browse sipping it leisurely. Solid couple of hours stepping away from the mad rush of life.

There's something soothing about the aroma of coffee as you enter a cafe. Inhale it deep into your body and the calm sets in. And the first sip of the foamy, hot, bitter sweet coffee is like heaven. Just plain coffee with no flavours to ruin its taste. With every sip, the coffee becomes a companion that wards of loneliness. It says it cares. And I can come back to it anytime I want!

Coffee shops have come up all over the place now. Every place has its own ambience and general type of people you will see. It is interesting to just sit there and watch the world go by. You will mostly find college going younger lot at a place like Cafe Coffee Day. And Starbucks is preferred for a lot of formal business meetings. The price of the items should explain the difference. But i also want to say that you will find people sitting around for a meeting in CCD and college kids (with loads of papa’s money) at Starbucks polishing off chocolate cafe frappe with friends. In short, there is a general atmosphere to a place depending on the clientele with a few exceptions.

Some people feel, and i used to wonder if they are right, that cafes are an expansive hangout. It is a pricey whim. But when i thought about it, i don’t go to cafes everyday. So it’s not like i just cannot do without my cup of daily cuppa. Actually that’s one of the things that goes the romance going. It is a special rendezvous reserved to occasional gratification. Plus, other forms of stress bursting/feel good activities can also have some amount of expense involved. They may also require more than one person to do it. Here, it’s just me - and my coffee - it becomes easier to continue with our dalliance!

What is your favourite activity that you indulge in to let go?