May 15, 2007
A lot can happen AFTER coffee.
The Cafe Coffee Day outlet in Trivandrum, according to one school of thought, is the key to the quintessential Malayalee's (upward) social mobility. In other words, there are certain people who believe that certain people go to C.C.D. because it is cool/hip. Why so in the Mallu context?
1. Because the clientele there order everything but coffee. Be it iced teas (oh, the irony) to mojitos or doughnuts to pizzas, coffee rarely figures in the list.
2. Because Cafe Coffee Day serves outrageously bad coffee; subjective yes, but i've tasted better in good old Thankappan's roadside thattu kada (thats romanticizing a wee bit, but the intention is clear).
3. Because people suddenly switch to English after entering C.C.D premises; the young, old or the imbecile alike.
4. Because we decide to read Jeffrey Archer inside Cafe Coffee Day without ordering anything (badly reminiscent of our wayside intellectuals at the chai shops involved in socio-political polemic?)
5. Because the TV programme showing plays muted to a different Worldspace connection. So if we're watching Juhi Chawla's Kurkure-ad, we're listening to 50 Cents rap. Wonderful symphony, yes.
But thats enough pseudo-bashing for the day; one, of course, at various indices must plead gulity to being a pseudo himself. What forms the subject subject matter of this post, is in the next post.
6. Because long posts are self-destructive to the institution of blogging.
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Comments
Well.... I am guilty of being part of being part of this expedition to probe the extent of bourgeois infiltration into the traditional malayali society and whatever other intention (exclusive to each other)there might have been in the minds of three young men who ended up at a CCD that has come up in the city...this trip, which has produced a lot of interesting literature ...here and at other foraa was good fun to say the least.
I have to admit boredom can often be a cure to writer's block...
Anyways...
Coming back to the topic under consideration....
Arun has put down, what appears to be very methodical reasons (well...they are numbered ,aren’t they?) why his line of thought is justified.
I generally wish to point out reasons why one could disagree with it.
It would be easy to adopt another scheme of numbered points...like the one above.... but with the warning of not associating any of the points with solely the corresponding numerical equivalent in the original post.
1.The clientele not having coffee can hardly be a reason.... it could impliedly be argued that any customer could have only “fried chicken” from KFC and biryani from Biriyani House.....I don’t quite understand what prompted Arun to think that anyone coming to “café coffee day” should necessarily have coffee…. that too a espresso…(would a frappe(cold coffee) be good enough? lol….inside joke between the both of us.) Maybe because the coffee literally took center stage in the name and left the ‘café’ part running for cover making u doubt whether the whole line of thought could be used as a advertisement for barista…or café mocha….I hope u got the point?
2.Sorry if I find this a bit…comical but the lawyerly instincts in me would not let me sleep in peace if I do not put down the following reason with respect to Arun’s comment that the coffee at CCD is really bad. Well…Arun did u read your first point after writing the second one? Commonsense would recommend that your second point answer the first.
The reason why if it seemed to you that people at a particular CCD (read… the temple town of Thiruvananthapuram) are not having coffee maybe….just maybe because the coffee is bad…..but does that necessarily mean that none of their other products are good and the shop should close down? Well…
3. Again the fact that I was part of this three-member expedition to CCD comes into prominence with respect to his third argument. I reckon distinctly hearing him say that it was his first time to a CCD in Kerala. I did not notice anyone switch to English(hat-off to Arun if he did)….nor did I know anyone there to actually be aware whether the people there switched to English(let it be known that I have no intention of sparking something analogous to the Hindi riots that occurred post independence) or normally speak in English unaffected by being under the CCD roof and I also doubt whether Arun knew anyone there that well either. Under these circumstances…..what are the reasons for an unaccountable allegation that young, old, imbecile(you could have at least left out the imbeciles on humanitarian grounds)…….alike generally switch to English when in CCD…...?
4. Jeffrey Archer…is it? The only thing I can see wrong in the picture here, even though I do not see myself reading a book in CCD is the choice of author….Jeffrey Archer?!!….he could have done better…certainly(no offence to Jeffrey archer fans)….and let me spell it out for those who don’t understand……S.A.R.C.A.S.M…If Arun, who was for a necessarily long period of time was in Calcutta(pardon me for my colonial usage) had exercised his observation skills as he exercised it in the CCD; while he walked into the Indian Coffee House in College Street I am sure he would have seen a better choice of authors. Without digressing, the point here is, would Arun consider these individuals …psuedo intellectuals….seeking upward social mobility…..by spending their time reading in Indian Coffee House while they could have done it at home? Yes, let me also warn u that the coffee in Indian Coffee house at least in Calcutta sucks…but, their bread omlette is brilliant…..wait a minute….are u supposed to have anything but “coffee” from Indian “Coffee” House? Well Arun and anyone who perceives a similar line of thought seems to be answering in the negative.
5.Kurkure and 50 cents…I dint see that coming!!!……
Let me quote a few words from the original post:
“The Cafe Coffee Day outlet in Trivandrum, according to one school of thought, is the key to the quintessential Malayalee's (upward) social mobility. In other words, there are certain people who believe that certain people go to C.C.D. because it is cool/hip.”
If anyone believes Kurkure coupled with 50 cents is any indication of upward social mobility or rather, why it should constitute a reason not to go to CCD……I am sure I would easily find quite a few number of people whose levels of tolerance permit them a muted Kurkure ad alongside 50 cents…..for those who cant pride themselves over such levels of tolerance or even a tact at being indifferent and not looking at the T.V. there is Thankapan’s thattu kada.
Having typed the above piece of crap out…on careful perusal of Arun’s original post I came to notice that Arun never claimed the above “school of thought” to be what he concurred to……also visible from the use of language (like in the above quote….”certain people believe that certain people”) but sheer laziness to go change his name and address a hypothetical malayali who believes that anyone who goes to CCD does so as futile effort at a fake portal of idealized upward social mobility seems boring.
I apologize to Arun for this mistake.
Posted by: Sidharth | May 17, 2007
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