Filter coffee

South Indian Filter coffee

I will laugh in your face if you think Nescafe is good. I will laugh even harder if you go to Barista or Coffeeday for your daily dose of caffeine. And finally, I will roll on the floor with laughter if you actually enjoy the coffee that comes out of the corner machine at your office.

You must have never had good ol fashioned filter coffee - served in a steel cup. If you haven't, please do come home, you are missing out on something truly amazing. I've met many foreigners who dare to sample the filter coffee, and unfortunately, can't handle it. Yes, too many cups do a stomach ache make! Why? Because its pure! No adulterated beans for us down south! I've always found it interesting how South Indians drink coffee all day whereas North Indians drink tea all day. One never need directly ask where a newcomer is from. We can just ask , Coffee ya Chai? Enough of a background check!

Now I do understand that we can't all sit and make filter coffee at home all day. Anyone who wants to give it a try is sure to get great samples at many of the popular small darshinis in Bangalore. Some of my favourites include Brahmins (famous for its idly vada chutney) in Chamrajpet, behind ShankarMatt and SN in JP Nagar. These are small places where you will get your coffee piping hot in a steel cup and saucer. I love pouring my coffee in and out of the saucer to cool it down. Then it feels ready to drink!

If you want somewhere a little nicer where you can sit peacefully and drink it in some style, I would suggest Kalmane coffees. They have a great variety of filter coffees with a few add-ons such as cinnamon (A must try!) .

Now I must go find for myself some filter coffee!

Me on Traffic

Bangalore traffic - two words that sends horrendous shivers down any resident's spine. Mindnumbing jams, an inability to judge how long it will ever take to move from point to point (as it changes every day) are a normal part of every Bangaloreans lifestyle.

It's quite funny in many ways. Every single day I go from home to office, and it almost never takes the same amount of time!Some days I am over half an hour early, and some days I make it just in time. The reason behind this is mystical. I'm sure that on the route from home to office between 8-9 its the same people everyday who are moving in the same direction. So what happens to change the time it takes? Is it one single external factor - a new truck driver who gets stuck somewhere? Is it someone's frustration who one day is in a hurry and breaks a red light, jamming the junction for ages ? Why is it so complicated? Are we all so uneducated? If we are able to learn how to drive, and get a license (albeit under often slightly questionable circumstances) , why cant we do things such as "practice lane driving". After all, ants do!!

The tragedy is that I feel very passionately about this, and I used to be very strict in following rules such as show my indicator to switch lanes, stick to the right lane, stop for yellow lights. But I can see myself slowly going towards the either side of the spectrum, wherein I am not always 100% rule adhering! I really don't want to fall into that group!!! I've seen recently many incentives which might help me, and other kooks like me, stay on the right path (no pun intended!). So, do have a look - it might just help us look forward to our daily drives!

www.smilingdrivers.org
www.commuteeasy.org
www.btis.in