A Lot Does Happen Over A Coffee

A Lot Does Happens Over A Coffee!!!!!

Coffee Shop, a place where you can sit back relax & enjoy your coffee.  Have nice & long conversation with friends or just sit quietly & read a book. Located at the prime locations (most of them) they always seem to be buzzing with people, music, conversations, laughter’s, giggles, etc.

Have you ever seen a guy very formally dressed, kinda nervous eagerly waiting in a coffee shop?? Every time the door opens he looks up & tries to recognize his interviewer. Arjun has been waiting for his interviewer to come in for the last half an hour. He was kinda uncomfortable in the formal clothes which he wore very rarely. His style statement - “Jeans n shirts along with the canvass - the best & the most comfortable dressing ever”. After another 10 mins wait, he is sitting across Ananya –. He was expecting the interviewer to be a guy in his mid thirties but it turned out to be girl in her mid twenties. “she might be younger than me & I have to report to her????” he thought, he sulked.

The interview is constantly interrupted by the young couple sitting on the adjacent table displaying their love & affection for each other - holding hands, the guy tickling the girl & the girl giggling away to glory. They won’t sit on any other table (And no one is allowed to sit on theirs in the afternoons)as this is the table where they met for the 1^st time & have been sitting on the same table for the past 1 year. J

“where did we go wrong?” wonders Mira, the lady in her mid thirties with a flourishing corporate career, sitting bang opposite to the young couple. She is waiting for her Kunal. She misses her long coffee sessions with her then boy friend & now husband. She used to enjoy every bit of it. Just that thought brings a beautiful smile on her tired face.  “Enjoy your coffee maam” says Ashfaque & servers her, her cappuccino with a broad & warm smile. He turns around & is called by the bunch of teenagers to place the orders of their drinks & make special sitting arrangements & other stuff like cake, candles, etc.

Its Sia’s birthday & Abeer has planned a small celebration at the coffee shop. With the standard broad smile Ashfaque starts making all the arrangements wondering if anyone will ever plan something like this for him. He had been working in this coffee shop for the last 3 years to support him through college. He has seen quite a few celebrations happening in the coffee shop – birthdays, promotions, proposals, etc. But the most memorable one has been when Ashish proposed Neena.

It was pouring very heavily that day & Neena had been waiting for Ashish for more than 20 mins now. Like the normal routine, Ashish walked in & started apologizing to Neena for coming in late. But that day Neena was really upset & was in no mood to listen to Ashish at all. That is when Ashish signaled Ashfaque to switch off the lights, play her fav song “you say it best, when you say nothing at all” , get the candle lit cake & flowers. Neena had the broadest smile on her face listening to that. Ashish got done on his knees and proposed to her. Neena soon became Mrs Neena Shah. J they visit ashfaque often.

The noise in the coffee shop brought him back.

Sia & Abeer’s friends had started to come in & the final arrangements were done. Along with Abeer’s friends walked in Kunal, for whom Mira had been waiting. She didn’t know how to react. Was she happy to see him today or sad as this would probably be the last time she would see him. He had come in to give her the divorce papers. Mira greeted Kunal & decided to have a coffee together. No one said a word to each other, Quietly sipped their coffee. Both lost in their own thoughts wondering if they can do something to make things right. 

The loud “Happy Birthday To You Sia” gets them back to the coffee shop. Sia was smiling, pictures were being clicked, hugs, kisses, gifts, etc. Abeer standing aside was observing Sia, the smile on her face, happiness in her eyes….. She deserves this & more thought Abeer. “I will always keep her happy” he promised himself.

“I don’t promise but I will have the HR call you by this weekend. It was a pleasure meeting you.” Ananya told Arjun while paying the bill. She stood up to leave, shook hands with Arjun & left. “How can I report to a female & that you younger than me????? Dude, this is bad……but paapi pet ka sawaal hai, karna to padega.” J Arjun gets up & vacates the table for Mr & Mrs Bhagwat & their NRI son Ameya, who according to his mom is the most eligible bachelor in their community(mom's love for their sons i tell u..... ;-) ). Ameya eagerly awaits to meet Tanuja his prospective bride, not sure about her parents though. Going through the questions in his mind over and over again.

Mira & Kunal realize that they have nothing to talk about, no conversation.

Under the same roof new relationships were being formed, existing were getting stronger & few falling apart.

Relationships & Conversations – personal & professional, experiences – good & bad, excitement, love, happiness & more can experienced here.

A coffee shop is not just a coffee shop anymore as “A LOT DOES HAPPEN OVER A CUP OF COFFEE J”

Meera & Me

Meera & Me

It was a recent realization, Meera my house maid who has been working with us for the last  4 years is as old as I am. It came to be as a little shocker coz she does not look her age, she looks much more older & mature than her age. “Dinky, aaj mi kaam nahi karnaar. Mazaa happy budday aahe aaj. J Tai aaz dinky kaam karnaar aahe” Tai who is actually my Aai, got the shock of her life hearing I will be cleaning up the house today.

Meera – around 5 feet tall, broad smile, sparkling eyes, dark with kinda sharp features, on the plump side, is the 3^rd daughter in her family, married to her own uncle(mama) & has 2 kids now. Living in a joint family she works as a house maid in my neighbor’s n my house. She cooks, cleans, washes, etc & has very strong views about certain things in life. Even after being repeatedly instructed by my Amma, she will come exactly during or just after lunch time(dad would have juuuusssstttt gone to sleep). “kai karnaar??? Kiti kaam hota tikade. Aani tya tar mala sodatch nahi” will be her explanation for coming at that time. My amma’s version will be “she will never finish her work n come here, she will sit there & chat with all of them” (amma can actually hear her, as our kitchen & my neighbors drawing room are kinda connected). Offer her chai, nashta, fruits, etc & pat comes the reply “aaz mazaa upvaas aahe”. She fasts almost everyday even on Sundays. Will never ask for her salary, loves chocolates, imitates me & loves being teased by me. Any festival or special occasion Meera will be all dressed in her new bright coloured saree, gold jewellery & beautiful gajraa’s. I love irritating her & teasing her a lot. She doesn’t mind it either. J

Meera started working with us when I moved to Andheri(w) coz of my work place. I thought it was a better idea to move into a rented apartment than to travel 3 hours one way. Convenience was important for me than money. Ask Meera & she’ll say – train travel is not that bad, atleast you save the rent money. You could buy something from the money that you could have saved. “lagna saathi kaam aala asta na…… “ married at the age of around 14, Meera delivered her 1^st baby before she celebrated her 1^st wedding anniversary. In the 4^th year of her marriage she had her 2^nd kid. Loaded with the responsibility of a wife, mother, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, she still manages to take care & fulfill all her responsibilities with ease. She is well informed about all the activities/gossip happening in the society & has her own point-of-view on the same.(which is more logical & practical than the secretary of my society). Meet her in the evening & she will be all decked heading for the evening chores at my neighbors place. Worried about how her kids will study & clear their exams she starts cooking & discussing the latest happening in the Marathi TV serials.

The smile on her face hardly fades away. When I am alone at home, she will sit & chat with me, discussing TV shows, recipes, kids, studies & my career. She will do the extra dusting, cleaning & put all the stuff in place when Amma is not there (wont ever do it when she is around, her explanation for this “Dinky office la zaate na, kaam karun damun yete”) . Though I cook & take care of myself, she will unfailingly ask me “jevlis ka?? Kai khalla??” etc. She gets protective when my parents are not at home. The transformation from a mother, daughter-in-law, maid to being my protective buddy is so smooth that it surprises me. Makes me wonder if I could ever manage so many roles & responsibilities with such an ease.

Without even basic schooling Meera manages her finances without any flaw. Grocery, school fee’s, bills, etc. Me earning more than 100% of her salary & having a certain financial expertise cant manage to my PNL accounts. After all her monthly expenses she manages to save & buy herself her favorite earring. I have been saving for the last 3 months to buy my favorite one’s ;-) but still not managed to save enough. Hers are small gold earring & mine are diamonds.  :P

Same age, different backgrounds – educational, family, financial, etc basic needs almost the same. But point-of-view, expertise, perspective so different. Makes me wonder is formal education more important than experience. Food for her is basic & healthy, food for me a way of troubling my amma with my choices. Its bright, colourful & jhatak clothes for her, brands don’t make any difference to her. It has to be a Biba, levis, etc for me.  Give her Rs 500 & she will save it for something important or emergency, Rs 500 for me will be few more cups of coffee. (“tikde zaaun, itki mahaag coffee ka peeta??? Ghari karun peeta yet nahi???” – Meera yells at me when her Tai(my amma) tells her about my spends). Watching a movie with the family is what matter for her 

unlike me who needs a box of cheese popcorn along with the pepsi in the red lounge.

Small things – different perspectives. Same points – different agendas. Issues – different point of view. Thou, Meera is not educated as I am, I have loads to learn from her, let it be multitasking, understanding people, maintaining finances, etc. But one thing she needs to learn – coming home early & not when my dad has jussssttttttt gone to sleep J