Chaay/Coffee

Jara sadhya wishayawar lihu mhatla.

Its seldom that we find ppl who do not consume tea or coffee... and unknowingly we exclaim... "kay?? chaha peet nahis???" Its assumed that if someone is not consuming tea or coffee... there must be some reason or the other behind it. But in general we find it abnormal.

The other day, I had gone to play football at 630 am in the morning. Someone said lets have tea n then play. Everybody followed him. This kick-started my thought process. I think we all needed a cup of warmth in that freezing cold. While holding the cup of tea in both hands, and savouring the aroma, it started feeling warm inside. You all must have had this experience while having tea in winter season.

Rain and tea/coffee is just unseparable combination. In Pune we tend to add 'bhaji' to that menu. Sipping a cup of coffee and watching the rain... truely enjoyable and at the same time nostalgic occasion. According to me, that is the most common nostalgic occasion. It DOES make us to remember the past incidents. I think everyone would agree on this.

And not just us, the whole world drinks tea/coffee. The most common eatable it seems. 8 out of 10 have a habit or kinda addiction of tea or coffee. they just cant do without regular doses of these drinks. it may just be their mental block. who knows. this happens with me and i am sure with many of us. during night studies, i have to have tea/coffee else i'd fall asleep. seems a mental block but yeah, it does work.

and this addiction, as some call it, is the most harmless and cheapest addictions from the list of available addictions. 'amrut-tulyas' are the best example of that. we can always find ppl sharing tea n cigarettes there. but WHAT a great tea they serve!!! people with no money, even us when we used to carry <10 rupees with us, survive on tea/coffee + cream-roll or bun-muska. (tea n bun-muska... guys raise hands who LOVE this combo). but on the other hand, the europeans consume tea as a matter of prestige or upper class. so more than the addiction, all have separate reasons to get used to the habit of these drinks.

coffee is now catching up with chahaa in India. the main reason i see here is coffee is still bit costly than tea! but the american culture lives on coffee. the coffee joints are the most happening places these days. parents also dont mind their children hanging out at a coffee joint rather than hanging out at a disc/pub thing. Me too has the same opinion. coffee joints like ccd n barista serve many purposes. we get excellent coffee with the 'drushti-sukh' that pleases the voeyur present within ourselves. i truely love their motto... "a lot can happen over a cup of coffee" . I have had many meaningful discussions over a cup of coffee.

with many of us working in the software industry, we all know the significance of the coffee machine. all the employees get so addicted to the coffee/tea that its the BIGGEST news in the office if the coffee machine is broken.

to conclude, i dunno if i have written anything meaningful. asach lihawasa watla. purists may still debate on the negatives of tea n coffee. but certain things we do even when we know their negative aspects... just because we enjoy to do it. drinking tea/coffee is one of them, atleast for me.

-- Makarand Joshi.