Progress or Regress?
Posted by Unknown
“Wait near CCD, the big one
on Brigade Road. You’ll find these bright green buses on the opposite side.
I’ll be there in ten minutes!” I marvelled at my friend’s ability to give
utterly useless directions while trying to sound like Google Maps, to someone
who hasn’t been to Bangalore in years. Controlling my exasperation in respect
of our 15 year old friendship, I tried to navigate past the Sunday crowd in
search of CCD. I mean, how difficult could it be? It’s CCD. They have an outlet
around every corner.
That’s when I could literally
hear Sheldon’s “Bazinga” as I saw not one, not two, but THREE Cafe Coffee Days
on the same road, at a distance of barely 25 - 50 feet from each other. While I
tried standing equidistant from all the three CCDs’ with the reason that it
will help me locate my friend better (who said I was good at Math?), I pondered
on the unnatural existence of three outlets of the same chain of eat outs on
the same road. My inner voice interrupted my thought process and pointed out to
something more situational and disturbing - all the three were brimming with
what I could only assume to be overly social teenagers, determined to be seated
there for the next few hours to say the least, with the excuse that it was a
Sunday, leaving me stranded on the road in my new pumps that hurt and with a
friend who showed no signs of turning up.
Suddenly, I had a new found
respect for CCD. Not only do they attract a varied crowd like a moth to a
flame, they also ensure that you keep coming back for more; although the latter
maybe largely on account of free WIFI and their mind-numbing patience in
tolerating anyone for hours. This, I feel, is a huge accomplishment in today’s
cut-throat competition market where any nobody opens a “cafe”. Honestly, to
open so many successful outlets across the country is no joke. I mean, there is
one on the outskirts of Vellore! For me, that pretty much sums up both the
desperation of the crowd to have a cool hang-out and the astute business mind
that is the reason for the desperation.
In a world where your success is
valued and measured by the number of likes and followers on Facebook and
Twitter respectively, CCD sure does have a long life ahead. However, like Amish
says in his Shiva Trilogy, “With great good, comes greater evil”. There was
once a time when we used to hang out at our “best friend’s” house every weekend
and every school holiday and the favour would be returned. We used to pester
and nag our moms to make our friend’s favourite dish because his/her mom made
Gobi Manchurian and Chocolate Cake last time we visited his house, and we can’t
afford to look bad in front of him/her with just Biscuits and Lemonade.
While the distance between CCD
and our home has been conveniently decreasing, the distance between us and our
family has been ever increasing. The thought of entertaining our friends at
home now appears to revolt us. The independence, comfort and convenience of the
cafe have taken over the warmth and familiarity found back home.
I speak from experience when I
say that having a coffee for 150 bucks with our friends is now an addiction
more than a social pleasure. There was a time when I knew their Menu Card back
to front. Sadly now, they have revamped their menu; and I have tramped away
from the obsession.
I am reminded of a conversation I
had with one of my Audit Managers, where she mentioned that during her days of
internship, she used to “hang out” with her friends at a temple every day
evening to share the events of the day with each other. I realised that in
roughly 20 years, we had progressed from calm and quite temples that came at no
cost to noisy and cramped cafes that needed you to carry the plastic card with
you always.
Is this progress or regress? To
squat at a cafe on a regular basis may arise on account of various excuses –
compulsion, a strange infatuation, peer pressure or sometimes just one’s
idiosyncrasy. What is to be realized here is that the answer to the question
above lies in the choice we make – whether or not we allow the excuse to define
who we really are.
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