Dribble scribbles

Every morning between 6 and 7 am, I grind coffee beans. Dark, roasted, strong, aromatic beans. As I grind them, the sound and the smell churn out thoughts. And these days, more often than not, I write.

Last June, my wife got me a hand grinder and the way I drink coffee changed forever. Earlier, I used to buy coffee powder and make coffee in a moka pot.

A handful of beans go into the grinder, and I turn the handle slowly. Usually for 17 to 20 grams of coffee, I would turn anywhere between 250 and 300 times; good exercise for the hands too! When the beans are done the handle turns free; it is time to brew.

She also bought me a goose-neck kettle. I fill up about 200 ml water and turn the stove on. In a minute the  kettle lid starts dancing to a wild rhythm, the next step for the coffee is complete.

I put paper over a pour-over coffee filter, empty the ground coffee beans onto the paper and then I pour the hot water slowly over all the powder once and then I wait. Second time, repeat the same. Third time, empty the water in the filter and wait.

Meanwhile, five minutes back, I had soaked a table spoon of rolled oats with four tablespoons of water. I turn the blender on for a minute, and voila, we have oat milk! Depending on the day, I might add a little cocoa power, a bit of sugar, or a date or date syrup to sweeten the milk.

Empty some oat milk onto a flask, and the coffee onto it, and close the flask lid. For the next twenty minutes, each warm sip of this coffee wakes me up further and prepares me for the interesting day ahead.

And as I finish writing this, it is time to brew another one! One thing is for sure; this morning ritual is making me write more!

Blog's not dead, long live the blog

Since its been a while since I've written and since I've been in the north-east, I thought I'd post at least something I wrote sitting in my field site three months ago. 

'The Hindu means home to me

Waking up at 7 am and smelling the coffee and breakfast cooking was a schedule for me everyday in Bangalore. The newspaper would be dropped anytime between 7 and 7.15 am and I would be eagerly waiting to pick up a cup of coffee and read 'The Hindu' newspaper. With a grandfather who worked for the newspaper for half a century and a cousin who writes for the Hyderabad edition, we always subscribed to the Hindu. Saturdays and Sundays were even more special with the Young World and Sunday Magazine supplements, and sometimes better still, Book Reviews. The Editorial, the crossword and the Calvin and Hobbes strip will remain my all-time favorites.

Working in north-east India on wildlife for the last year or so, I haven't had access to the Hindu, although for a month I subscribed to the pdf version of the paper which was quite expensive so couldn't follow it up. The website version was not the same as reading the paper although I often browse it. But this time when I got back from home I brought few copies of the paper.

My schedule here is quite different. In Arunachal Pradesh where I work on birds, plants, and shifting cultivation, one can't afford to wake up at 7 am; I wake at 4.30 most days and cook my breakfast and then head to field. They say the early wildlifers get the birds! I come back few hours later and then settle down and today on the 30th of January still enjoy reading the Hindu copy of January 3rd I picked up from home! Paul Krugman says the republicants have started complaining in the days before Obama has taken power, LTTE have been blown in Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka and the army is headed further north, beef slaughter houses in Bangalore are going to be closed temporarily and so on and so forth.

The point being that sometimes when I miss home, reading this paper I catch a glimpse of the leisure hours at home when mom makes coffee and breakfast and my chore is merely to wake up, fuel up and then head to college. Here it's quite different, much more independent and sometimes a bit tiring. But when I read The Hindu, it still feels different; I take a leap three and a half thousand km back home sitting on my sofa with a cup of coffee! Maybe, I will ask my parents to post me the Sunday Magazines copies too! Sunday magazines are the best for relaxing on a holiday'

Postscript: Now, the Hindu has a north-east edition, YAY!