Coffee Chronicles: Pilot

A friend had complained of the abruptness and apparent incongruity of Episode 1 of Coffee Chronicles with the rest of the posts. I agree that the series does require an introduction. Hence this post will be a pilot for the series.

Offices and workspaces can become mundane. Employees need to stretch their legs once in a while and revitalise themselves with nectar devised especially for that purpose- be it tea or coffee. Such liquids give them the much needed energy to see them through the rest of the day till it is time to go home.

To understand the importance of this, we consider the statement made by a man famous for championing the cause of the working class. Banished from his country due to his revolutionary views about subjects that intoxicate, he had once remarked, while sipping a cup of rich tea in London, “Tea is the opium of the masses.” The statement was later modified by the same great man to “Coffee is the opium of the masses”, so that coffee drinking nations could identify with it as well. Subsequent times have seen the statement being distorted to “RedBull is the opium of the masses” but that did not go down well with the working class.

Most companies, since then, have had ‘break-out areas’ or ‘mini-kitchens’ with coffee-machines installed in them. Such areas see much activity and hear much gossip. More often than not, the rich tapestry of office politics unfolds around the coffee machine. Indeed, it is well known that words that are exchanged in such areas provide taste to the usually drab liquid (for machines lack the nuances of hand-made tea or coffee). The exchanges are as intricate a part of the coffee room as the machine itself.

This series is a testament to the richness of such stories that unfold around the coffee-tea brewing machine. It is not a fictional series; the posts will mostly be based out of my own humble experiences in the mini-kitchens.

Lastly, this series will be a tribute to the concoctions that have sustained generations of working men and women across countries and companies. Be it tea or coffee, we owe our productivity most often to these.

*The End*