Inside Out?

A lot of time in life we spend juggling between the 'there's so much to do in life' and 'there is only so much you can do in this life time'!

I find myself lost many times just trying to keep up with the shortened version of  the short-listed things that I want to be able to do this life time. Often, I look at myself from the outside, hoping to find the answers standing right there.

But it is difficult to decide which dreams to follow and which ones to let go. And never having mastered the virtue of letting go makes it even more difficult. I have been told to listen to my heart and act with my brains. And like all good advice, these are mere words until that one moment, when the words, their meaning and I become the same.

Maybe the secret lies in getting up close and personal.

"And with these words I can see, 

Clear through the clouds that covered me. 

Just give it time, then speak my name 

Now we can hear ourselves again..." Pink Floyd

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Keeping the 'bean' alive!

So it is that time of the year, when I get some time to come back fresh and rejuvenated to this blog and share a few tales. Most of you who were there with me last year around this time, are probably wondering about what happened to the cafe dreams. Well the honest fact is, the dream is still there, but I realised I was not ready for the reality of it. Not ready to settle down. Not ready to take the big step. Not ready to leave engineering.The thing is I cannot run away from my life to begin something like this. I need to be at peace with myself first.

In the past I have always treated running away as a valid solution to living life. But just the other day, while speaking to a friend, I realised that there comes a time when you forget what it is that you are running away from, and what you are running away to. And not knowing the answer to these questions really is the problem. I guess running away in itself is not that bad, provided you have faced the 'whats', 'wheres' and 'whys' of it all.

Anyway, moving on to more coffee updates (which is what this space was originally designed for, and not for my life rants!) , I guess the best coffee I have had in the past year was in Salzburg, Austria. It will always be a special moment in this cafe, right in the middle of the city, with my family, sipping coffee and soaking in the ambience. My parents were visiting Europe for the first time, and I was lucky enough to join them in this leg of their journey. 

Looking back, it was surely one of the moments when I felt very nearly at peace and so happy. (Not something that me or any member of my family will ever openly admit - because as a rule we don't voice our feelings.)

Besides, for a long time now, I have been in search of this mysterious 'cafe crema - or so I think is its name' which I had in Sicily, and have not been able to properly locate since then. I have a feeling the name 'cafe crema' is possibly wrong, and I have not remembered it correctly. But while taking the flight back from Salzburg airport, I had this ice coffee, which was not the same, but came quite close to the original one I had in Sicily. And this again made me very happy.

The moral of the story definitely is to not give up hope. Hope of finding the perfect Sicilian crema, or finding yourself, or for that matter hope on me. 

One day I will serve you more than just a story. And we will then sit together and talk about our dreams, the ones that came true.

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Just beat it!

We made awesome coffee today at home, and I just had to post the picture here! I hope I can serve this to you first hand soon. The trick is to beat it till the sugar and coffee becomes one whole thick, smooth, light, creamy textured paste and then add the hot milk right in.

Among other things, I know I still have to update you all on the few other Delhi cafes that I did manage to visit during my stay here. I will soon be leaving for Mumbai and I hope I can cover a few cafes there as well.
This trip was so good and memorable that I cannot quite believe it is almost the final countdown...


Sell Coffee, not your soul

Coffee dreams

I have been thinking what is it I am good at? While I cannot just go off and start the physical SYB cafe right now, I can at least do the only thing I know how to do to keep the idea alive. And that is to write. Write about the idea, put my thoughts down in an interesting way, so that at least those of you who still believe that this venture will ever take a step outside my mind, get some value for putting your trust in me. And yes I do realise that I have some promises to live up to, before I can start drawing pretty pictures on this site.

For right now let me leave you with the feeling that you get when you sit with a nice cuppa coffee in your hand, a book by your favourite author and sit by the window side reading and sipping, not caring for the world which passes you by.


And yes I do know some of you don't like reading, while others don't like drinking coffee, don't let that stop you from imagining the way you feel, when you can let your hair down, relax and feel at peace with the world.



Sell Coffee, not your soul

Doodles at office...

Sell Coffee, not your soul