Sipping away life…

It has been so bloody long... I think we should catch-up guys! A usual conversation between buddies who have missed each other… The first thought of a place which comes to the mind is a CCD, Cuppa, Caffé Pascucci where people can hang out for however long they want to. ‘A lot can happen over a coffee’ & ‘Life, refreshed’ has become a very commonly discussed taglines these days…

Since the introduction of Café Coffee Day (CCD), the definition of hang-outs has changed. The business model of a coffee outlet has been well discussed & exploited these days. Bangalore never thought of paying 50 odd bucks for a simple cup of coffee which otherwise would cost less a tenth of the amount. But with the introduction of CCD, a whole new era of conversations were triggered. The Mango man who initially perceived the outlets to be for the rich and the show-offs started sneaking into the habitat of the polished brews and here you go - a large bunch of customer base was developed in a jiffy!

With the rich response, there of course will be motivation for the players to go an extra mile and innovate. The result was something really nice which the city lacked. A whole new set of flavors; newer players; Indianised customer focus and what not! The most important thing is that the competition did not get into a price war - though it looked like at the beginning of the introduction of the competitors. But with the onset of exclusiveness and brand association, the individual players did gain the market share which they deserved. The market now is all the more matured and ever innovative! Perhaps the only player who lost out in this was Barista who was not able to cope up with the market pressures. Customer retention became a huge problem for him as CCD just grew bigger and better each day!

Apart from the generic business model of a coffee shop, some chairs & tables and something to munch, there are a few more which specialize in a beverage. ‘My Tea House’ in the southern part of Bangalore is one such place which is exclusive for tea. Likewise is ‘Infinitea’ around Central Bangalore. There also exist the older ones - ‘Coffee House’ is a classic around the central part… A few of them have emerged out of the concept of being a typical hang-out spot. There is this Cuppa around southern Bangalore which has an open air projector where corporate can hang-out and convert boring presentations to lively hang-outs! For innovations and ideas, sky isn’t the limit!!

Well, this write up isn’t about the business models around the coffee shop market of Namma BengaLuru. But its more to do with the emergence of the whole new era. A new world which is chilled out filled with energy, enthusiasm, hospitality & freshness - just by associating itself with the basic beverage - Coffee & some tea!

Here I sit in one such open air coffee house around JP Nagar (south Bangalore) wondering what really has attached me to these coffee shops over the years. No, it surely isn’t the brand; it isn’t the coffee / tea I get here as I found a similar association with the coffee shops around the European region as well. Then what else is it? - The noise, people around, chilled-out environment, freedom, freshness … ???

These coffee shops have been a place where my mind thinks and inks. Amidst all the noise around; movement of people, honking of the traffic, activities on the large wide screen idiot box - I still can sit and think. Imagine, get crazy with ideas. The whole setup makes me get out of the normal way of thinking and lets me be imaginative. I don’t go to put forth the classic question - ‘Why?’ I just do it (Guess Nike can’t sue me here… :))… At times bump on to known faces; converse with unknown faces; wonder staring at strange faces; Observe different expressions; Predict actions; More importantly smile! :). Guess that’s what it really boils down to… It just lets me be myself and gives me the freedom to express it in the way I want without any expectations… Sounds familiar isn’t it (Especially if have been in a relationship with a lady ever in your life :D).

Conversations

Coffees are the best way to start a conversation around. The aroma, the refreshing feelings are things which are common among people who come over. The conversations usually take the route of the ‘horrible Bangalore traffic’, ‘political mismanagement’ blah blah… But also brings in a whole new perspective to the entire jazz around these and minds start talking. At times you find a connect with people whom you converse with. Once on my way to the Eastern Europe, bumped on to an old fellow who had travelled around the world working in various places across the globe (sounds like a really cool job to me!!). The visit was rather unplanned - this conversation helped me plan it all (though I almost missed my flight because of the conversation :)) … never could I have imagined such a stuff! Conversations in Koshy’s led me to meet a really interesting person - Ravi Lobo who is into making documentary movies… In that phase of life where I was really into knowing about the existence of communities like Aghoras, it was something which gave me goose bumps!

The Art of Guessing

My favorite pass time is to look at people who are sitting distant apart within their groups and guess what will be their next action! Well, I aint eve teasing or intruding here. It is just a fun element when you are sitting along in a coffee shop trying to kill sometime. Instead of getting bored, it always is a better option to do this :). The conversations build in your mind, you figure out that you are an innovative person, you can draw inferences on the actions, you can build stories, you can imagine and sky is the limit here! Trust me, if not for anything, I bet you will have a smile on your face after this (like the one you have now! :))

The blankness

At times the mind just doesn’t want to think. Fair enough! It after all needs some rest as well… Open air hang-outs are the best place to be! Stare at the stars on a clear night; enjoy the loud music; observe people and their actions and more importantly fill your tummy with something light and refreshing!

Well well, the story never ends... Where else do you find such variety which will not go over-bound with what fills into your pocket? They say that change is inevitable. Trend is something which has to change to give a respite to the otherwise monochrome outlook. This change has of course added more spice in my life. The moment I get bored of the menu at a place, I find it getting changed... What more do you need :). I sit here sipping away with a mastermind called Life... in the way it matters! A business model which has changed the outlook of life and the experience around existence...