Reflections at Porto

The rooftops of Porto stood out for me. I did not feel for once that I was in Europe. Instead I felt like I was transported much closer to home.

The green doors and windows, some dilapidated old ruins happily coexisting against multicoloured pretty buildings in the historic city with the river Duoro passing lazily through it just made me feel so nostalgic about my birth city Kolkata. Not that I have lived there for too long, but a certain snapshot of memory from my childhood (age 2 or 3 perhaps) comes to mind. Sitting on the edge of the terrace wall of my grandparent's (rather old) four storied apartment building, looking down at other rooftops, I think I felt very much like I was at the top of the world.

It is fascinating how the mind makes connections. How we draw parallels between something old and new in a single breath. How we see the world around us, the way we want to see it. The way it makes sense to us. And the fact that each of us are seeing a different world through the filtered lens of our individual experiences.

There is always a lot to sit and reflect about, and the many cafes of Porto make it quite easy to pause every now and then and take that very required life changing sip of coffee.

I was amazed at the variety of savoury and sweet snacks that was available at any local confeitaria as well. Casually walking into any local bakery was a delightful experience in itself. I will most certainly want to go back to Porto again some time, if just to eat great food, and experience a strange sense of familiarity in a city I am most definitely a stranger.

Sell Coffee, not your soul

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

A summery summer

There is a lot going on inside my head at the moment. Though on the outside the focus most definitely is on the absolutely and unbelievably gorgeous weather!
The summer has been very unlike the summers that I had gotten used to for the past few years. I am almost getting used to this new idea of dry, warm days and not having to layer up each time I step out of the house. The long and sunny days seem to be lifting every-ones spirits and even some of the perpetually grumpy individuals around me are breaking out into uncharacteristic smiles and laughter!
In fact the hot and humid afternoons and the burning sun reminds me of either being on a holiday or being back in Pune.

Speaking of holiday, our last one was in the city of Prague. And my first evening there walking around the old city blending into the crowd of wanderers felt so good. It was sparkling, colourful and lively without me having to take the added effort of keeping it alive. And I love that feeling.

Once you are done seeing a city through the eyes of a tourist, you start noticing the locals. Personally for me that is what I am looking for when I go to a new place. I love watching the local people busy in their daily lives. I love peeking into a new culture, watching their dressing style, the way they meet and greet their friends, the cafes they go to, the emotions on their face... you get the drift.

There is so much more to travelling that words or pictures can never tell. There are those chance discoveries, the little nothings, the post cards not bought, the feeling of not knowing what is around the next corner. When I sit down to digitise my thoughts its too late already to capture them completely. They are fleeting and disappear as soon as I get back into my own daily life.

And then out of nowhere, one hot summer afternoon like this, over the desire for a cup of coffee and while staring blankly at the ceiling, some of those transient thoughts come back to me in a few words, and I try to bring the memories back to life by putting them here.


P.S Have been drinking a lot of cold coffee shakes this summer! Think I should make myself one right now.


Sell Coffee, not your soul

A short trip

A a lot has been happening in the last few weeks. But the one thing that has definitely not been happening is writing. I have been pushing most of my thoughts to the background and hoping that the time will come when I simply have to put a pen to paper and get it all out of me.

I spent the first three months of this year craving wide blue open skies, and then finally my wish was granted. Against all odds, we managed a short trip to the US and Mexico. Met up with friends, tried loads of new and tasty food, soaked in some Caribbean sun and sea, attempted conversing in massively broken and limited Spanish language, had a glimpse of a civilization I had no idea about, 'cooked' ourselves completely in the 35 Deg hot sun while paying our respect to one of the seven wonders of the world and of course tried out a few new cafes.

I have moved quite a bit as a child. But every new place that I have moved to, there have been people, who I instantly connected with and eventually we became friends. These people are partly responsible for transforming a new unknown world to something close to a home for me. And as such a lot of our journeys one way or the other revolve around catching up with these friends who we love and miss. And this trip was no different in that aspect. We spent a few days in Austin, doing the old style catching up, lazing around and just being ourselves. 

One afternoon we found ourselves chilling in Mozart, a cafe by the lake, well known among the students who greatly contribute in giving this place a feel of a college canteen.

Considering the warm weather, I ended up taking an Iced Mochaccino, which I do recommend if you ever visit Austin!

Speaking of coffee, one of the most remarkable and dramatic coffee that I tried during this trip was on our very last night in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. This was the Cafe Maya (of the Mayan civilization) at the Yaxche resturant. I had read some rave reviews about this coffee, and I just had to taste it. Cafe Maya turned out to be far more than just a coffee!

It started with our waiter turning into a magician and appearing with a table full of instruments and ingredients to create this experience for us. The ritual he then performed in front of us, with alcohol, sugar, fire and blue flames left us speechless. We could not help clapping like children at the end of the show.

It's not easy to capture such moment's in one frame. Especially when you don't want to take your eyes off what is going on. 

The end product was quite unique as well, but as I said, this was not about the coffee, but really about the experience. The drama, the excitement and the thrill was what made it special. 

In fact, if you think about it, it's a bit like our lives. Sometimes I feel like we all have the same destination, but the path to getting there is what makes all the difference. It is up to us what we make of our journey. Some of us can take the a simple experience of sipping a hot drink and transform it into a magical experience for a few minutes.

Sell Coffee, not your soul