Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf

A double chocolate latte with an espresso shot and fresh whipped cream! What's your poison at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf? For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is an international coffee chain which just opened in India last year. Blue Foods has taken up the project of launching 40 stores of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in India, the first one being at Nariman Point and the second on Linking Road. With products like "Chai Latte"(!!) on its international menu, the "chai" at CBTL will definitely be more successful in India than the Barista or the CCD tea. Sorry for deviating, but a must know fact- Water tastes better than the CCD tea.

Well, as one enters the place, there is a chorus by the entire staff which goes, "Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Welcome!".The ambience of the cafe is warm and the seating arrangement is spacious compared to Barista or CCD. Blue Foods has selected a prime location for the second cafe, the one that I visited. It is where Cream Centre originally was on Linking Road(opposite Amarsons).

The quantity of serving of the coffee is reasonable. Though the prices are 10% higher than the Barista or the CCD, the coffee, the service and the ambience makes it absolutely worth it. Also, the coffees are available in three servings-regular, medium and large. Blue Foods has marketed and launched this cafe wonderfully. There were only two to three tables vacant when I visited the place.

With Costa Coffee launching two stores in Bandra (one at JATC and the other opposite Danai)the CBTL opening at Linking Road, the Columbian Cafe on Hill Road and Gloria Jeans at Turner Road, Bandra is about to turn into a coffee hub! Not to forget the good old CCDs and Baristas! Besides, there are places like Candies and McDonalds which are not coffee stores but are very popular for their coffee.

On the whole, I personally rank CBTL right on the top with Costa coming in second. CCD and Barista, you better make your coffees cheap, the competition will kill you! A Cappuccino at CCD for 20 bucks! That's what I'm waiting for!

Anyway let me know how you liked CBTL!

Finally, finally, finally.

I never knew what love outside relationships is until theatre and stage came into my life. And now, after so many years of so much effort, I have realised that love for some phenomenon, hobby or art form is a pursuit. It never ends. It can never end. It always is in your system.

This post relates to the first post for the regular readers of my blog. For those who have not followed me since the beginning, the first post of mine on this blog was about how passionate I am about theatre. Well, thus the connect.

This affair started in 2005 when I joined Neeraj Kabi's Mask and Gestures workshop at Prithvi and did a quick second Acting and Directing workshop with him in a matter of 15 days. I got to act as Hamlet on the pristine stage of Prithvi Theatre for only a 10 minute presentation. Though I got to direct it also! But that was it. I had done it. My presentation was the last one and Shashi Kapoor walked towards me and shook my hand. Everybody stood up and clapped. It was glory time.

He asked me a few questions about my direction and I answered them rather confidently. I saw a proud smile on Neeraj sir's face. Two days before the presentation, in the workshop, he called me aside and asked me if I wanted to work for his play. I had entered heaven. No, actually a place better than that, it was called Pravah Theatre Laboratory for Performance, Training and Research.

Under Neeraj Sir, I learnt theatre, management, patience, adaptability, street sense and what not! My association with Pravah went on till May 2006. It stands tall and strong till today but I couldn't contribute or be in service of Pravah since then. This was because I had my 12th grade to give in 2007 and then I got admission in Symbiosis, Pune.

For sometime I was adamant and attached to Pravah to such an extent after going to Pune that I refused to work or create any new possibilities for theatre related growth in Pune because Pravah was operational only in Mumbai. I stagnated for a good long year. And then, I realised that this was not a fling. I was in love with this for life. I participated for the first time in a drama event in January 2008. It was called Dramaturgia. It was a monologue event. And I won second place.

My search for support for progress was over. It was inside me that I had to look. That is why I gave a boost to English Drama Club in my college with the joint efforts of Aditi Shanbag and got a good 65 members supporting events in the club. That is when the first project of the English Drama Club materialized in Jan 2009 with "Oh God!" at Ananya, the college cultural fest. It was a 30 minute long semi-musical with an Indo-Greek story line, written by Shashvat Shukla and Shezah Salam and directed by Shashvat and me jointly.It was received well and EDC became quite popular, at least more than before.

Sitting at my place we three figured that when going to other colleges, English Drama Club wouldn't really sound impressive. Yes, the three of us were Shezah, Shashvat and I. So then something called "Along the Lines" took birth, which has now become far more than a baby to me.

Auditions in the first semester, no play, no workshop and a lot of swine flu! The second sem has what ATL was always waiting for. Dramaturgia,(my breakthrough event remember?) but this time bigger than ever! Going inter college with 8 institutes participating and Quasar Thakore Padamsee gracing the event on 4th February 2010 to not only judge it but also have an interaction with the audience, it is more than a drama come true! :)

And of course who can forget the ATL workshop happening with Mr. PRadeep Vaiddya! All this at the end of graduation is only overwhelming. Infact, all this just gets me back to the same point. Its only been a pursuit of doing better,growing in theatre and getting stage experience. And the pursuit only came from the place of love.

Until then
Keep pursuing your dream!


PS: This blog is a dedication to the lovely Dramaturgia team and all its supporters, Along the Lines, the faculty who have supported the club, Mr. Neeraj Kabi, Mr. Quasar Thakore Padamsee, members of the former English Drama Club, Shashi Kapoor for the unforgettable handshake, Prithvi Theatre and to the love of drama which rests inside of me.

Asmanjas

Scene: Vipul, a twenty-odd year old is walking down the street at 10:30 pm on one of the streets of Khar in Mumbai. As he is walking, he sees a Maruti Zen a little away coming in the reverse direction. With his judgment that the car is yet a further away, he continues walking. The car driver speeds the car in reverse and the car almost runs into Vipul. Vipul, in instant reflex, bangs the back shield of the car harder than required, exchanges a glance with the car driver.

Car driver: Bhenchod!
Vipul : Hattt!

(The car driver aggressively stops the car, comes out of the car banging the door shut and walks towards Vipul)

Car driver: Saale madarchod. Teri aisi abhi bajaoonga na. (Tries to hit Vipul)
Vipul : Haath mat lagao. Haath mat lagao.
Car driver: Kar kya raha hai haan tu? Itna jor se kyun maara? Teri to! (Tries to hit)

(Vipul sees a police chowky and rushes towards it. A traffic police officer comes to the door of the chowky. Car driver slaps Vipul in front of policeman)

Vipul : Sahab yeh dekho maar raha hai. He is raising his hand on me.
Car driver: Itna jor se gaadi ke peeche maar ke jaata hai. Saala. Dikhata hoon isko.
Vipul : Khar Police Station chalo.
Car driver: (goes towards Vipul) Abe saale aa toh sahi tujhe dikhata hoon.Chal, chal.
Vipul : (Enters the police chowky and tells the policeman) Ab main aapke custody
mein hoon.
Policeman : Aap rehte kahaan ho?
Vipul : Sahab yahan do building door.
Policeman : Chalo abhi tum dono jao.
Car driver: (Enters the chowky and proceeds towards Vipul)Bastard. Idhar aa.
Vipul : Chup. (Shows angry eyes)
: (To policeman) Isko bolo idhar se chale jaaye. Aap kya kar rahe hain?
Policeman : Main kisi ko kucch nahi boloonga. Aap Khar Police Station jao.

(Vipul is shocked. He remains silent most of the time)

Car driver: @#@#$%$#^&*&^(*)&*^%&@$%!@#
Vipul : Main aap se baat nahi kar raha hoon. Suna nahi aapne. Main aapse baat
nahi kar raha hoon. (Two three times more. Says the same thing.)

(Vipul tries to get rid of him but the car driver just doesnt agree to go.)

Car driver : Arre aise door mat jao. Main kucch nahi karoonga. Aao tumhe tumhare ghar
chhod deta hoon. Aao.
Vipul : Chalo. Mujhe ghar chhodo.
Car driver : (Happily walks out of the chowky) Aao.
Vipul : Haan aap baitho andar.

(Car driver sits inside the car. Vipul and car driver exchange a glance for a second and then Vipul just gestures the car driver to leave. Not once, not twice but five times. And rather vigorously.)

Vipul to Policeman: Mujhe toh problem solve karna tha. I am aware of everything that I could have done. I am an educated and informed civillian. I know that I could have filed and NC against him. Par kya fayda? Time aur energy khoti hota hai.

Police man: English mein nahi, Marathi mein bolo.

-------------------------X---------------------


Guys, this script is the text of my life exactly 6 and a half hours back.Yes, I was Vipul. This very thing happened at 10:30 pm near my house. I had gotten down to buy popcorn.

The asmanjas here was if I should have adamantly pursued the case by taking the constable and the car driver to the police station and taught them a lesson or the apparently intelligent thing that I did by coming home and saving an hour of tension and worry of my parents' and my life.

Already?

A certain somewhere did I see or I was asked to write- my batch year in SCMS(UG). And it was 2007-2010.
In the next few hours I opened the papers to see new year party advertisements in 5 star hotels -"Seduction 2010", "Bollywood Mischief" and "The Experience".And then I thought, "Why can't they ever have decent names?!".
Finally,it struck me.
January 2010
February 2010
March 2010
Last 3 months of college life.
And then, its over. I will be a graduate. End of grad school.
I have not yet come to terms with it. It will take time to sink in. Maybe sometime when I am writing my last set of exams, will it hit me. I hope not though.

Comebacks

There is something about them. The attached glory that they bring. It stays more inside of you than outside. But it stays with you forever and for every minute that you are alive. It stays with you because you know that you were great in delivering to the situation, which was a do or die, completely and perfectly. Because you didn't let yourself die. Because you created something for yourself which will inspire you for your entire lifetime.

We all have made come backs. Some aggressive, some restrained and some well planned. And we know how difficult it is. Imagine, how a comeback for a company will be!
Human resource integration to the maximum and leadership personified. This is what really pulls me towards such cases.

With the cadbury disaster of germs infestation in 2004, the then marketing manager played a superstroke by having none other than Mr. Amitabh Bacchhan endorse the brand and support it on national television by taking a tour of the factory. Cadbury sales were back to normal within a year.

General Motors India marketing and after sales head Mr. Ankush Arora and his team launched a new Chevrolet model just a week after GM filed for bankruptcy in the United States in 2007. This left the media, the public and the competitors shell shocked. It gave the consumers the feeling that Chevrolet, contrary to popular misconception, is going to be around.

McDonalds. What more is to say? In a country where deceitfully being fed beef causes rage, humiliation and sometimes a mutiny, McDonalds pulled off the same sales figures within a 6 month period after being accused of using beef in cooking oil. Cheers to Ronald McDonald.

Some people might think that all this is, is making mistakes and then fooling people. Well , I would say that this is growth. We all goof up. But the player who wins, is the one who can reconcile, reintegrate and reconnect the fastest.

Inconsistency

January 2
February 2
March 9
April 3
May 0
June 2
July 1
August 1
September 1
October 2
November 1
December 1

These are the number of posts I have put up on my blog this year(including this one). And it sums up to be 25. Which makes it around 2 posts a month which is fairly decent. But for those of you who know me, I bet you are already laughing. 9 in March, but 0 in May! Well what can i say? 36% of my blog was written in the month of March. (Financial Year end adjustments?) Ha!

Well and now that I have realised that the average is coming to 2 posts per month, I am slowly wanting to turn that figure to 3. (Calendar Year end adjustments).

So a desperate attempt this December would be to try to at least close in to the 3 figure mark with good, valid, reasonable posts. (Basically no bullshiting).
So the challenge stands. Eleven more posts in eight days. And all of them should make perfect sense.Hmm.

Well this whole excercise really stands for how I do most things in my life. Not very consistent.

Anyway, I have to say, that writing in this part of the year is exciting and easy too. It's Santa time. And yea of course, new year resolutions, parties, calendars(and i am NOT talking about the swimsuit ones) and lots more. So keep reading my blog. A lot is in store this winter. I hope to monetize it some day. (Sindhi blood.Ha!)

PS: A new year resolution found. It's called "Being consistent in 2010".

I don't want

So life goes ahead,
But I dont know what i want,
Sure I dont want,
I know what I want not!

I might as well be blank,
Rather than have tension so,
Rather than have turbulence so,
I might as well be crazy.

Crazy is always good,
Because if there's something,
Which is outside the wood,
Don't want to venture concrete complication.

Simple is good,love is,
Not that I don't have time,
Not that I don't have courage,
But it's just that I know what I want not.

I don't know what's happening,
I don't know why it is so,
I don't want to see reason,
So heal me time,heal me.