'I would rather have a cup of homemade tea.' Jayashree thought as she followed her daughter-in-law inside a big coffee shop.
"Whats the name of this place again?" Jayashree asked Anu as they settled down, welcoming the cool air conditioned ambiance.
"CCD" , said Anu. "Short for Cafe Coffee Day"
"What will you have?" Anu asked, handing her a long menu card. Jayashree took the menu card and realised she will not be able to read it without her glasses. She kept it aside.
"I don't know beta" She said.
"Ok Will you like a Latte or a Cappuccino? Anu said rising up.
"Don't they have coffee here?" Jayashree asked.
"Latte and Cappuccino are different styles of coffee Mom" Smiled Anu.
"Oh well! We know coffee as coffee -- at the maximum a filter coffee. Order anything good for me."
"I will order a latte for you. It has more milk."
As Anu walked towards the counter to place the order, Jayashree looked around. The cafe was lovely. Brightly lit, colourful, elegant furniture and yet , it lacked something -- the something which she thought lacked everywhere today.
'Thehrav' she said to herself. "Stillness".
The generation today was way smarter than her. Her son and daughter in law had achieved much more than she had expected and she was proud of both of them. But the youth today -- they are always in a hurry. It's just that they are always running. Everything is quick, fast, loud, dramatic, over the top. They earn quick bucks and spend it as quickly. They knew more about america than they about their own country. They would eat out, complain about the food and yet not learn to cook themselves.
"CCD" she thought. They don't even waste their time in mouthing out full words.
Jayashree kept looking around the place. The noise was more like a buzz mixed with today's music. 'too fast again' She thought. A young man sat alone at the table opposite to her, typing something on his laptop, headphones in his ears and a long glass filled with ice for a drink. 'Why do people bring work to a place like this?' Jayashree wondered.
Anu was back with a black tray that had a big white mug and a tall glass which looked like it had bornvita in it. She placed the white mug in front of Jayashree. It looked like a beautiful beverage. The froth had a design over it. Jayashree wondered if the drink will taste as good as it looked. She took a tentaive sip and winced. "No sugar" she said.
"Here are the sugar pouches" Anu said as she pushed one towards her mother-in-law.
"What are you having?" Jayashree asked Anu.
"Choco Frappe" Anu said as she forwarded her glass to Jayashree.
"Thanda Bournvita" Said Jayashree. "You paid for this stuff? I can make better cold coffee than this"
"Yes once we go back , we will have a lovely cup of homemade tea. Now lets hurry up Mom. The autos will soon start charging a bomb of a meter and a half if we delay a bit more." Anu said as she took a big gulp of her own coffee.
There is that urgency again.
Sometimes Jayashree was not sure if she wanted the city life at all. She longed for the peace , the stillness that was back then. Anu was scrolling through her phone and Jayashree realized they had not spoken for the last ten minutes. She sighed. Maybe when she goes back home and take a sip of her favorite tea, she will ask Anu to book a ticket back home.
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This was a writing prompt at the Writer's meet up. "Write about a person who goes to CCD for the first time"
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