For You, On Your Special Day

You, yes you... It's your day! It's your birthday, and here are the twenty two things from me to you.

"I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do, about you now..."

Thoughts: A Quickie

I was travelling in the bus with a friend and asked her, when I saw she wasn't talking, "What's on your mind?"

I'm sorry I didn't pay much attention to what she replied (it wasn't that important), but my own question got me thinking. I realized, I haven't asked that question to anyone in the longest time. Seriously. I haven't asked someone what they were thinking. Is that sad? Or just normal for today's context?

Then I really started thinking about it; below are some of the possible reasons I found.
1) people talk way too much, even when no-one's listening.
2) when they are not talking, they are either texting, chatting and/or doing something similar
3) they have simply never thought
4) they don't listen
5) they choose not to think

Some will never learn to think, even when their Facebook account's status-update box asks them every time they put something up (usually several times a day), "What's on your mind?"

Coffe House -er Adda Ta...

Bengalis are inherently nostalgic people. We love remonstrating about things as they were and this trait is especially rampant in North Calcuttans who in this age of digitization, constantly miss their “rock –er adda”, “chaa –er thek” and the famous, famous Coffee House in College Street.

At one point of time, you wouldn’t be considered a true Bengali if you hadn’t been baptized by the Coffee House waiters. The crème de la crème of Bengal’s intelligence turned up at this coffee/tea/snacks joint and indulged in long brainstorming sessions. It was a legend: here shy couples found first words of love, the amateur poet composed his best lines, songs were sung in its praise, old friends met, new acquaintances were made. It featured in all contemporary art – literature, music and cinema. A Bengali couldn’t dream of a Calcutta without Coffee House.

But that was when Calcutta wasn’t Kolkata yet. 

I belong to the Kolkata generation. I visited Café Coffee Day and Barista before I stepped into Coffee House. Of course, I had been already brain washed by various agencies that Coffee House was God. Period. There was to be no debate on this.

So, it happened. I entered this realm, starry eyed like an unassuming fawn… and WHOA! For people who have never been to Coffee House, it’s a really old, dilapidated place, hardly visible among the numerous stacks books in the crowded kiosks. You wouldn’t see it if you didn’t know it was there (allusion: Diagon Alley, Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling). There is this really narrow doorway, and that leads into a possibly narrower staircase. Climbing up two flights, you emerge in to a large hall, with three legged tea tables, that are stained with tea, butter and cigarette ash. Fat old men are the principle occupants of this buzzing place. The chairs are infested with bugs that bite you in very embarrassing and unreachable places. The waiters have a uniform that looks like they have never been washed since Moses split up the Red Sea. There are ceiling fans that fan themselves. The walls are yellow; I never figured out if they were really painted that way. Decorations are mostly paan stains and cobwebs, with the occasionally scribbled swear-word. And I could go on rubbishing this place, but it’s getting too long.

What my point is, I don’t prefer Coffee House to Barista. I guess I am supposed to. Many would argue, scandalized by my pro-consumerist attitude, that the famous coffee shop chains are the reason our Beloved Coffee House degenerated in that heap of mess. I can’t agree. My reasons are simple, any sane person would prefer a clean and hygienic eatery. Why would anyone go to a place which is neither? Why don’t they clean the place up? Why don’t they change the tablecloths? Why are the waiters so unfriendly? Why is the food so unhygienic? 

Please let me know honestly, if I’m being blasphemous by raising these questions? Is it our fault that we don’t like going to Coffee House? It is DIRTY! I’m sorry I can’t share typical sentiments about a filthy coffee place. My health and comfort is dearer to me. And that cannot be a crime. :|