New and Shiny

I am back after months of procrastination. I have been at the brink of 'to post or not to post' all this while - and each time stopped myself from making a half hearted attempt. You see writing for me should flow automatically and not have me trying to strangle the words out of my head. While this means I am truer to my passion, yet it also means I fall prey to my worst enemy/quality i.e. laziness.

And as a result I missed out on updating you guys on a few interesting stories from my life.

Primary of which is my move to Peterborough from Cambridge. No, it is not a very big move, yet it is a move and it does mark a new beginning of sorts. I have already been to several different restaurants and nearby cafes.

Affogato - The Boathouse

I will post more in my coming blogs. In fact watch this space to know 'what is positive about this borough'. I assure you, you will find loads and loads of negative stuff if you look for it and some of which unfortunately is true. But as with everything else I do like the underdog. And at the end of the day it is the people you meet who make a place a home and I have to say I have met some cool people here.

Another big change is my laptop + operating system. I have converted from Windows to Mac OS and it took me some time to get used to this shift in thinking/storing/operating. I call her 'Aether'. In Greek this means pure fresh 'Air' that the gods breathe.

And because I am in a new city I decided I need a new hobby. And what better hobby can I pursue than that of Latte Art? And so peeps, here I introduce the little red coffee machine with milk steamer et al - a brand new addition to my kitchen, which has already produced some 16 odd cups of awesome espresso for me and my friends! Latte art is only a few steps (and loads of practice) away!

I know the holiday season is coming up and I am personally looking forward to December (my favourite - the month of adventures) but I hope I can post a few more stories this year before I go on holidays.

See you soon!

Sell Coffee, not your soul

The stop - start conundrum

Is there a good finishing line? Or are we just fools to believe that 'happily ever after' is a single permanent moment after which time freezes, and with it our thoughts and lives?

The world around us encourages us to believe in this notion, and in a way, I think it makes sense. Walking one milestone to another, and all the time thinking that the final reward is just around the corner, keeps us going. 

The problem I believe comes when we can no longer maintain the enthusiasm, and the disappointment of every corner grows bigger than our zeal and belief to keep the spirits high and march bravely forward.

There are so many self help articles, tweets, trends on google plus, books, seminars, therapists, priests etc. A whole business has been established for something as basic yet critical as 'keeping the faith'. Bon Jovi sang it, religions preach it and fairy tales sell it. All set to keep us humans going, down the same loop a million times, with the promise of an unique adventure each time. 

And believe it or not it is an unique adventure each time. It may look repetitive, and very same as an observer, but when you are inside this blue green whirlwind, it is a whole new world every day. And in a way there is merit in unlearning our past, re-discovering a lesson and re-inventing the wheel. It keeps us rooted.

And with this in mind, I prepare for the road that I have travelled so often - Another house, another city, another set of good byes to be said. The search for a home continues. And with that the search for cafes, friends, my thoughts and feelings about random things and places will continue too. This virtual address will stay the same, but I know my views, opinions and ideas will change. With time.

P.S: There are still so many places that I have not visited in Cambridge - but that is fine, I can always come back here when I want. 

P.P.S: I have started posting my verses in public again. You can read All roads lead to... here!

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Fresh coffee, old memories and new starts

It is one thing to remember the past fondly, and quite another to be stuck in it. And I do have a habit of the latter. 

I remember, when I finished school, I didn't think I could live without my best friends. But when I left home town to study engineering in another city, I met new people and made my next set of best friends. I was sure I would lose them when we finished college. And for a while I did. And for that period I was heart broken. 

But I was yet to be introduced to some more people, who would play a big role in my life, especially to make me feel at home in a foreign country. For a good part of the next three years these new people became my family in the UK. Needless to say, when the time came for each of us to part ways, it was not easy. 

And then the other day (just happened to be the day when Indian media celebrates friendship day), while I was sitting in a cafe in Soho (Flat White), with yet another set of friends, who I have grown quite close to in recent times, I could not help being a bit overwhelmed by a warm fuzzy feeling. 

And all those friends, who I left behind at many different crossroads of my life, I realised I haven't really lost them. I may not see most of them over long periods, or speak to them even, but the strong invisible connection with them never goes away. When I meet them after years, time seems to automatically rewind and the cracks start filling up quite quickly.

All of them (including those who will become one of them in future) enrich my life constantly. I may not pick up the phone and tell you all this in fact it is very unlikely I will ever say a single mushy sentence to your face - but you know me, and you know how I feel.

And speaking of friends of the future, I have recently started an endeavour with a couple of my new found friends. Each of us love to write but needed a bit of motivation to do so more often. 

For a while I had stopped publishing my fictional works to the public domain, but have decided to post the new ones here. All three of us have a very different writing style, and I am hoping that will make it more interesting for the readers. Go take a look here, if you are interested and let us know what you think.

And with that, I shall get out of my cave (bed) and give Sunday a chance :) See you all soon.

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

New bean on the block

We are at a stage where 'Spread your beans' is only an idea and a whole lot of impending hardwork and research. Through this blog we would like to make a progress report of sorts of how things are shaping up at our end. (And how soon we can invite you all over for a hot cup of refreshing coffee). We hope that this blog will be our white board of thoughts, ideas and learnings through out this journey of becoming the 'SYB'. There are only two things we care about at present, one is the Coffee and the other is You.
Any kind of feedback, questions, ideas, criticism, friendly opinions, relevant remarks and even irrelevant gossips are most welcome!



Sell Coffee, not your soul