A slow connection

When I first thought about starting a cafe, the thought was inspired more by the feeling around a cafe - a meeting place for people. For them to sit together, spend a few hours talking, connecting, relaxing and being themselves. And the more places I visit, and more I observe people, it only reaffirms this feeling.

Juhu Beach, Mumbai 2013

For me none of the virtual social platforms can come anywhere close to meeting people physically. 

And the biggest reason for this is the fact that as humans we all have layers. And not just that, we also have images, complexes, presumptions and very little attention span.It takes time to be ourselves. It takes courage to have a meaningless conversation which may eventually lead to something deep and true.What we think we may not say explicitly, what we say, does not necessarily mean exactly that.140 characters really cannot begin to contain our personality.The pictures of our surroundings don't necessarily reflect our true emotions. And I guess this attempt of over-simplification and extreme acceleration of 'connectivity' between humans to some extent puts me off popular social media as a means of really connecting with people.

Popular 'chaat' places on Juhu Chowpatty

Nevertheless, I cannot deny the obvious benefits of the medium and it's best feature being a global online address book. (I am told, one should always let the computer do, what it is good at.)

Left on my own, it is far too easy for me to just drift away. In fact after a while, the drifting is so automatic, that I don't even realize it. But every so often, sitting around people, some of whom I only see once a year, some far less frequently, some with whom I may have shared a cup of coffee or a 'cutting' chai in the past, (with the addition of a relatively slow internet connection), I feel suddenly grounded and in a not so scary way.

Sell Coffee, not your soul

What's the story (morning glory)?

Every cup of coffee should have a story to tell, I think. The ones I have every morning, possibly have the same one line story but it is an important one - It is a cup which forms the boundary between the fuzzy-ness of last night's dream and the hard cold reality of the following day. It's the warmth from that one cup which offers comfort and courage to face the rest of the day.

The cafe I visited this weekend -  Cafe Jocolatte, had the perfect environment for exactly that - stories. And they proved it by their tag line

 'Drink coffee, eat chocolate and talk'

Simple and profound and exactly my thoughts!

It was a much overdue visit, but it finally happened. The cafe has one of the most welcoming interiors, and many more surprises waiting to be explored once you are inside. It is not more than 15 minutes walking distance from my place and so I have no idea why I waited so long to walk right in!

The place is possibly closest to what I had in mind for a physical representation of SYB. It looks cosy from outside, but is actually quite spacious once you go in. There is a garden with outdoor seating as well (for warmer days - Yes English summers are a 'real' phenomenon!! They do happen once in a while :-) and more space upstairs. The walls are decorated with bright art work (which are for sale - you can take a look at their website) and most importantly I loved my flat white which went perfectly with the Toblerone-almond tart.

If you are able to zoom into the picture above, you can also read about the advertised 'Marcussens tea'. With 25 herbs going into it, I think it has it's own special story to tell!

Also for the non chocolate eating, non coffee/tea drinking people (surely there must be a few such outliers!) there is also some wine on the menu if you fancy.

As for me, I shall now proceed towards the refrigerator, and relish some left overs of the Austrian 'Sachertorte' also bought from the same place ;-)

Parting thoughts - while coffee, chocolates and cakes may not solve our problems directly, at right moments and in right amounts, they are a bit like good friends. They make us feel warm and comforted, and sometimes gives us the much needed kick to wake up and solve our own problems!

Sell Coffee, not your soul

What we learnt at Kunzum cafe

So after the ecstasy at Thadi, my friend and I continued on our journey to hunt down more cafes to inspire us. Kunzum cafe was next on our list. Conceptually I had really liked this place. The idea to have a place where people can come, sit  down, relax, talk about their travel plans and share their own travel stories, all this sounded like fun. Just reading about such a place excited me.

With all this in mind, we finally stepped into this cafe. And I was instantly shocked. There was no kitchen in this cafe. In fact this was not a cafe at all. It simply had one side board with a kettle and assorted tea and coffee packs. Trying to hide my initial disappointment, I took off my slippers, to enter the cafe. Yes that's right, you have to take your shoes off before seating yourself. I think I understand the idea behind it, which is to make you feel comfortable, as if you are at home. However in reality the flooring was not all that clean, and so bare-feet walking on a dusty floor did not exactly make me feel at home.

Since there was no menu and there was just one guy who seemed to be serving everyone, for a long time my friend and I just sat there and wondered what to do. We started looking at some of the photographs which were hung on the walls. They were quite pretty. I went and got some travel books about Delhi and Himachal Pradesh from their extensive book shelf and started flipping through the pages. After giving the lone waiter enough time to finish his many tasks, my friend went and placed our order. I wanted something cooling since the temperature in Delhi is still quite a bit high for me at this time of the year. But I had to accept the green tea instead, since there was nothing cold on their sideboard-kitchenette.

Soon we were feeling a bit too suffocated because of the closed nature of the space, and also because the people sat on neighbouring tables had stopped being entertaining, we decided to leave.


Learnings;
The Good: The idea/theme of the cafe is undeniably good. Especially because I pride myself as a world traveller, the theme was closer to heart for me.
I also liked the idea of pay what you like. It sort of made up for the fact that this place is not really a cafe. This also means if you don't like the place or the product, at least you can pay what you feel is correct, instead of being forced to pay an exorbitant price and leave feeling looted.

The Bad: The space was much too closed and there was absolutely no ventilation. To add to this since the place is tightly packed with high, low chairs, sofas and single mattresses on the floor you cannot help but get in each other's way. Eavesdropping into your neighbour's conversation is not an option, it is compulsory here.
Personally a very big negative in my mind was also the fact that there was no personal touch. It is possible that  I went to the place at a wrong time, but I would have really liked it if the owner of the place was there, speaking to people and helping newcomers to connect more with the central theme of the place.

The Ugly: I felt a bit cheated, because this was not a cafe. Tea, coffee, confectionery are the highlights of a cafe, but this place did not put any focus on this aspect at all. My personal belief is ambience cannot be the only highlight of a cafe, the product that is sold also needs to match up to the level of the ambience.

All in all it was a good learning experience, and we went back home with lots of scribblings in our note pad. It is important to learn how to do things. It is also important to learn how not to do things.


Sell Coffee, not your soul

Featuring Thadi Cafe

As we walked down the narrow but lively streets of Hauz Khas village, my friend and I saw this old looking and not very attractive building which had a sign of Thadi Cafe loosely hanging outside it.

After some debate of whether it is 'safe' to go in ( I can attribute the fear to the paranoia which I seem to have developed just by not spending enough time in my own country), we finally voted that we should give it a try. Also I had a read a few lines in a blog earlier this morning, and I really wanted to see the place.

So we followed our heart, and the signs, and kept climbing up the stairs of this mysterious looking place, all the time guessing what could be in store for us. When we finally reached the terrace (which is where the cafe was located), we were so thrilled, that we almost cried out in joy. The view from the terrace was awesome. This terrace-cafe looked over the Hauz Khas water tank giving a person like me who had no idea about the place and this lake such a pleasant surprise.

While my friend sat soaking in the ambience (the view, the caned chairs, painted walls, posters about art concerts etc), I went in to carry out my own investigation, under the pretext of ordering food. My second surprise for the day awaited me inside. The owner (one of the four, as I found later) of the place was also an engineer, who opted for doing something different with his life. Needless to say, there was an instant connection, and I spent quite some time chatting away with him. I found out that the word Thadi meant a small vendor of tea and coffee from the Jaipur region where the guys had studied. I found out about the aspirations and reasons behind the conception and implementation of the place. I also managed ordering some food by the end of it.

So in conclusion:
Ambience: Fantastic, the view from the terrace and low seating arrangements inside gave a double dose of character to the place. The music system was a good one, which to me personally was a plus! My friend loved the diwali lights which were turned on at dusk.

Food: We had the Thadi chai (tea) and a veg grilled sandwich, both were decent. My only crib, why didn't the waiter leave the pot with left over tea behind, I would have loved a second round!

Pricing: Very affordable. (Especially when I find almost everything super expensive in India!)


Sell Coffee, not your soul

Do you have the beans?

Do I really have the beans?!!


I don’t know, but will sure find out soon. The latest development in my life is that I will be moving to Cambridge in the UK, by end of next month.(I don't yet have a technical job there, but sure have lots and lots of ideas to take SYB to the next level!)
 Anyways this does mean new opportunity for SYB! New cafes, more members, more scope of art related discoveries and yes Cambridge has the highest number of start-ups in the UK, so you never know!

Also I found out that there is a centre for Entrepreneurial Learning in Cambridge, and they hold free seminars every Tuesday evening. I do hope I can take full advantage of all of this. I will keep you guys updated on this topic as and when I find out more.

For now I am scared, excited and going through rapidly changing mood swings every 10 minutes or so!






Sell Coffee, not your soul

Hey there

Hi,

Let me begin by introducing myself. I am the other half (or quarter if you may) of this enterprise. Based on the need of the hour I am the bouncing board, the sceptic, the detractor, the supporter, the motivator, ... name as you may.

So far I've been shirking the responsibility to come out and introduce myself, to contribute to this enterprise in the open. Before I said something, I wanted time to think about what coffee means to me and what selfish need I am satisfying by dreaming of running a café. Unlike Aradhita I hadn't been to a café until I was well into my teens. And then too, because it was the new kid on the block (Café Coffee Day had just started those days in Pune). I came back feeling a little disappointed, not just a little ripped off at their exorbitant prices and overall unimpressed by their coffee and noisy, slightly condescending environment. I failed to see what can be in the face of what was.

A lot has changed since then. I've been to many more cafés and had a lot more coffee. I've come to associate cafés with the smell of freshly ground roasted coffee beans, both invigorating and calming at once, inviting you to sit back and enjoy your cup as you catch up with friends, family, a book, writing, thinking or simply watch people going about their lives.

To me SYB is an experiment to create space and imbue it with warmth and creativity. A place you visit to stimulate the senses as well as relax, hopefully both at once.

I've dilly dallied enough. Until the next one... have a good one.

Sell Coffee, not your soul