The Coffee Shop

This is an account of an evening spent in a Coffee Shop in Ahmedabad. I wrote this essay as part of an assignment. But felt that its ok to blog too...here goes..

********************

The waiter has now decided that I must be some kind of a journalist. Lugging my laptop, a notepad and 2 pens, and with 3 café lattes ingested, he no longer bothers me. Which suits me just as well. I had taken up position against the backlit wall with some kind of a modern art painting with blurred coffee beans. It’s been 2 hours in the coffee shop now and with the passage of time, I had seen a family have a boisterous, loud party, two couples who broke up, and two others who seemed to weather the ravages of time. Destiny seemed to be on their side. There was this gentleman, also with a laptop and the financial times who was probably passing time before heading back to his hotel. No doubt, he was checking his stock positions. He was the only other person in the shop who nodded his head at me and smiled. Undercover agents acknowledging a secret mission!!

In the beginning I don’t notice the kind of drinks that people are ordering. There is very little hot coffee being ordered. There are 2 young boys at the counter. No girls at all. I always imagined that in the place like this, surely some girls would have been employed. There is a bored expression on the faces of the kids. Wearing a smart uniform and uncomfortably mouthing Au Lait’s and Macchiato, I could sense their discomfort. The gap that exists between their world and an alien world where a cup of coffee costs more than their daily meal.

No such hesitation for the young couple who order an iced coffee and a frappucino. University students I reckon. She carries a canvas/jute handbag embroidered with beads, some kind of zari work and carries off the ethnic look very well. There is kohl in her eyes and confidence in her bearing. Her escort is well dressed, smart in t-shirt and frayed jeans. They sat opposite me and for a considerable amount of time, engaged my attention. In my view they represented young India. They took about 45 minutes to finish their drinks, and must have spent about 7 minutes talking to each other. The remaining time was spent in fiddling on their cell phones and calling up a few more friends. The long suffering café coffee day waiter came up again and again trying to first sell some cookies that no one seems to want and checking if they could be persuaded to have another drink. While this story developed on my left hand side, there was yet another couple who weren’t sharing any love or harmony. They sat down and the girl ordered a brownie and the guy a lemon tea. So much for a coffee shop!! A heated argument then ensued and voices were raised. Interestingly, not a single soul in the coffee shop (about 15 others), raised their head. While I was lamenting the general loss of curiosity and interest which is such an endearing Gujarati trait, lo and behold, our fearless waiter decided to foist his cookie spiel on this couple. The poor chap needs to do something about his timing. The girl actually stood up in anger and the guy had to pull her down. Within 5 minutes this meeting concluded with the girl storming out of the shop. The guy paid the bill and left.

With all this drama unfolding, I hardly had an eye on the details of the place. The colors were neutral. Shades of blue and beige, with molded chairs in a dark chocolate color. There was some kind of music, which to my untrained ear sounded like some kind of a Michael Bolton love ballad.

I often wonder as to how many times the designer of the shop even comes and observes human life in a place like this. The music was not quite right, it was meant to sooth, but it was a bit on the louder side. The colors on the walls clashed with the furniture. Chairs and tables are arranged in fours on one side. A complete waste of space in a place which is frequented by couples.

The servers of course can’t be blamed, but they could do better with their smiles and inject some warmth. Of course, when I compare it to some of the rude baristas of the starbucks in NYC, these boys and girls are downright nice and friendly.

I’ve again fallen into the habit of criticizing the place. It’s an old habit I’ve been trying to break. I pull myself together, and check off my list – Place, covered. People, covered. Ambience, done. Anything else left? I feel a sense of loss when I leave the place. People came, had coffee and snacks, and left, but they left behind some happiness, ideas, unrequited love, arguments and feelings. The atmosphere hangs heavy with these human emotions. I couldn’t get a handle on that. Maybe I should just come back and be the observer once again.

********************

The Dogs of War

Its an warm autumn evening. Hazy night skies , but I see the The great hunter of the heavens stretched across the night skies , behind the misted viels of pollution but clear and luminous with Betelgeus on his shoulder and the glorious belt shining across time.

Draw a straight line, like my father told me that you will get another set of jewels. Sirius twinkling away like a diamond. Mars is still high up there blinking a malevolent red.

Its been a long day and sleep beckons like a mate calling to bed. Today's MCC class was all about being curious , and asking questions. I listened to one of the music tracks that the prof handed out for over an hour. I got some blissful sleep right in my chair while my brain worked out alpha and thetha waves. Thats right , I let me brain do the work while I relax.

I went to check out the Garba action on the campus. Turns out that it all started late I didnt see the stuff in action.

There is a dog menace fight in progress. All of a sudden, silent old me has been pitchforked into the center of Man vs Canine war. I support my fellow Homo sapiens , but my heart beats for those silent mutts who cant even appeal against us.

And between the Glory of Orion spangled across the skies and the Dogs of War , another day and night comes to an end in IIM-A

Term 4 Chronicles Contd....

Chronicles continue…

The sensex crashed by a small matter of 700 points over the last week. A NASA satellite made some news. Nothing moves the air of stillness in the IIM-A campus though. The prospect of Navaratri, Garba, endless swirling dancers, backless cholis and ringing Gujarati dandiya raas songs is appetizing.

But like characters from another time, these things sound distant and other worldly. This afternoon, I sat through a session of “Strategies for Corporate Growth” without understanding a word. I am sure that some of the class did. The professor sketched away on the board fearlessly. Words and stratagems and theories died gloriously in the desert of ignorance and inertia... A lot of other folks seemed to be clued in on it. Come evening and as the birds flew home, our MCC class began.

Prof. Mehta donned a white lab coat, a probe and the rest of the class looked and behaved like laboratory mice in an experiment. 30 Mins into it, every brain in the room was scanned and locked into a series of random numbers. There was a discourse on reptilian, fish and mammalian brains. And a finger elongation exercise. I suppose there is some scientific background to it, but my brain and eyes strained to see any difference in the length of my index fingers. I am still hopeful of a Merlin inspired transformation and I keep my short and long fingers crossed.

There is our resident mess cat, she of the glorious furry mane, dense fur coat and enviable tiger-like stripes. Her kitten, who is a carbon copy of Ma, is unfortunately hurt. I felt rotten looking at the poor animal dragging her hind feet mewling away. God Help her.

And after 10 minutes spent on chasing the intellectually afflicted pigeons from my balcony , I stand and look into the darkness at the bright lights of the fire-in-their-bellies PGP students’ dorm , the air redolent of opportunities , construction ash and bird detritus. This is my life now.

THE MCC Chronicles – Life starts again in TERM 4 at IIM-A

Its September 23^rd, a post-monsoon day in the IIM-A campus. I went to my first MCC (Managing and Creating Creativity, AHEM!!!) class at 7:15 PM today.

But before I get into that, a little bit about the atmosphere. It’s been a lazy, languid opening to Term, 4 at PGPX. Life is moving at a slower pace, and even the dogs at the campus are taking it easy. Term 1 and Term 2, the professors kept us busy between classes, and the dogs did their job nipping at our ankles when on the move from class to room and back. Something gives me the feeling that its part of the bloody curriculum. Not too sure about the Monkeys because they have put on a disappearing act.

I had a long walk off the lower lawn of LKP at about 9:30 PM. The dew had begun to settle in, and the toads hadn’t begun their orchestra yet. The air is heavy, pregnant with a thousand ideas that could germinate from the freshly cut grass or die like yesterday’s noisy crickets. I spent about 15 minutes admiring a large fruit bat, which was hoarding a banana up the peepul tree near RJM. From the chomping sounds, here was a one character that was having a good time.

The sounds and smells of the campus after sunset are unique. I could kick myself for ignoring these sirens, on days and nights when I have been hunching over useless excel sheets and formulas that have without exception reminded me of my general ineptitude towards anything to do with numbers.

LKP is lit up as always, a majestic force of human endeavour forever reminding all the ants scurrying across its face that time is their enemy and anonymity like old age, beckons around the corner.

MCC class number 1 had its mix of sceptics and enthusiast. Prof. Mehta comes from a varied background. He has done a little bit of everything from medicine to space science to neuroscience. He managed to sneak in a MBA and PHD as a lark. An interesting man. A gangling character who promised the class that in between thinking outside the box, expanding the limits of imagination, students would need to attend to the small matter of having their brains scanned at the beginning and exchange a few hellos with the resident jungle leopards at the end of the course. I found it interesting. The best part of the course? It’s at 7:00 PM in the evening. After getting the Japanese S**-SL*** treatment in the first two terms, I was beginning to question my sanity. Well, we are restored now, and the stars and moons can traverse across the night sky in all their splendour again.

More thoughts after the brain probe tomorrow………..

On Advaita Vedanta

On Advaita Vedanta

I was about 11 or 12 (1988 ?) when I first saw the movie - Adi Shankaracharya on a VCR/VHS tape. Those were the pre-satellite/cable days and everyone had a lot less choices but more time to invest in those choices. My dad brought home this tape , possibly his way of getting back at the more commercial/filmy tastes of the rest of the family.

I couldnt make out a single dialogue of the movie , but the subtitles were great.This is not an easy movie to sit back and watch - Its like a prolonged musical where Shankara and his learned disciples burst into verse and shlokas at the drop of their enlightened hats. And that too for an impatient pre-teen , whose only fear when watching the movie was that neighbourhood kid wouldnt start laughing at him for watching something so "uncool".

What kept me interested was the constant background refrain that started up whenever 2 principle characters showed up alongside Shankara. GV Iyer masterfully depicted Wisdom as a handsome young brahmin "Pragyan Sharma" and the other character as "Mrityu" or Death.

Possibly a year later I happened to get hold of an Amar Chitra Katha titled "Tales from the Upanishads". There were some wonderful pictures and stories , and I was enthralled by the story of King Janashruti and Raikva from the Chandogya Upanishad , and the story of Nachiketa and Yama.

It was not the case that I understood the deep wisdom and knowledge enshrined in these stories.But the movie and the comic books triggered a life long interest in understand the concepts of Advaita or Non-Dualism.


Adi Shankara was a game changer in many ways. An iconoclast , an anachronism. He ushered in the renaissance of Hindu Culture as epitomized by Vedic Dharma , rescuing it from the then blind religious practices and rituals espoused by the priesthood. In many ways he revived Hinduism in a similiar manner in which the writings of Dante and Petrarca triggered the European Renaissance in the early 15th century.

In those days , the common thought was that the only way to divinity or salvation(moksha) was through rituals , sacrifices and the belief that the Self (Atman) was different from the All pervading Life force (Brahman or God). This gave rise to the concept of a "Personal God" , who had to be propitiated through various means.Sometimes even through human sacrifices !!

Shankara gave new life to ancient texts known as the brahmasutras which themselves were commentaries by ancient sages on the Upanishads. These ancient scrolls were rotting away in ashrams and temples , uncared and forgetten.

Shankara discovered these texts , recognized their historical value and in doing so played the role of part-scholar , part-compiler , part-archivist and part-librarian. By rewriting , adding new dimensions and quoting from real world examples , he brought back these forgotten texts to the forefront of hindu religius learning.

He was also a great educationist and reformer , and successfully setup centers of excellence in all four corners of India. These centers still flourish as "Mathas" - in Dwaraka , Puri , Shringeri and in Joshimath tasked with the preservation and propogation of the Advaita system of thought.

There is something appealing about the principle of Non-Dualism. The axiom on which the entire edifice of advaita vedanta exists is that "Tat Tvam Asi". Thou are That. Thou , the Self and That , The Force/Brahman/God are one. When one realizes the importance of this unification , then you rise about petty thought processes , of singing praises of one god and ridiculing someone else religious leanings - towards another god.

This simplification of thought has its implications. Learning complicated rituals and God-Personalization is no longer the prerogative of the Upper cast hindus. Everyone has access to an omnipotent force or God and each person's individiual experience of God is his own. The caste system and the concept of idol worship becomes irrelevant. God is Anywhere and Everywhere !! Its the self that needs training to understand it.

Shankara's debates with scholars from other religious sects and thought schools and their subsequent acceptance of the relevance of non-dualism in daily life still hold meaning in today's world.

Too many wars or endless debates are centered around the fact that my religion is greater than yours. Its my way or the highway for religious extremists and is the major force obstructing human progress in this day.

Advaita Vedanta had answers to what plagued humanity in Mediaval India , and gave the entire hindu way of life a new foundation. Non-dualism is religion agnostic. Its a simple thought , and the concepts are still relevant in today's world of religious extremism.