Caffeine Express: From Brain Dead to doing the cha-cha
It's funny and incredible how a mere whiff of certain fragrances brings about a torrent of memories and almost makes you relive them. And it's all more worthwhile when the memories bring you joy and brighten our day. Scientists believe that scents can even bring out repressed memories, astounding isn't it??? I cant verify the above claim but I say one thing for sure, our olfactory sense is the expressway to our memories. There is one particular fragrance that makes me feel good and bad at the same time. The singular fragrance I am talking about is the strong smell of Coffee, to be more precise, its Madras Filter Coffee. The rich aroma of a freshly prepared coffee is just heavenly and too divine to describe. It is my favorite memory jarring fragrance to this day and also my most preferred way to get caffeine high. I love everything about the Madras Filter Coffee, even its name. Madras (ok...ok now known as Chennai) is the place that I grew up, went to school, played around. This place is so close to my heart like none other. Just hearing the old name (dear name) makes me feel nostalgic. Okay getting back to the topic now, as I was saying, I love everything about this coffee. The heady scent of coffee gives me a flash back every time I come across it. It almost mimics a time capsule where it reminds me everything that happened during a certain period in my life. It always takes me back to the time when I was just a innocent and naive school going girl. It took me to that one particular instant where I would be huddled next to gas stove struggling to remain awake while my mom was preparing this sweet ambrosia. You see, I have never been a morning person and my childhood was no exception. That coupled with the undeniable hatred of going to school, explains why I needed the caffeine fix. Like any other or should I say, every other children (my cousins loved going to school. I never could understand them ) I dreaded going to school. I hated waking up early and hated going to school even more. The only concession was that I could start the day with a cup (it was mug actually and a huge one) of coffee where I could just forget for the due time about homework, exams, marks, tuitions or any other stress related with school. This was my routine: Wake up disgruntled, trudge to the kitchen, hop on next to the stove and wait for the coffee to wake up my soul. Without this amber liquid, I would walk around mindlessly and cranky. My family knows better to leave me alone before I get my morning dose. Heading to Thomas Jefferson words “Coffee - the favorite drink of the civilized world”
I proceed to get my daily dosage of coffee to behave civilized, especially in the morning. The second this sweet liquid touches my tongue, I could almost hear my brain crunch its knuckles and getting to work. Justly said by Brian Andrea, “I don't really like coffee, she said, but I don't really like it when my head hits my desk when I fall asleep either. ” I totally agree with him on this.
And as Cassandra Clare of 'City of Ashes said, “As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?” With these words in my head, I headed out bravely in to schools sans doing my homework. As time went on, the downbeat part of the memory didn't come to the forefront unless I forced them to appear. All I want to remember now is the way I huddled next to the stove on cold December mornings, that warm and toasty feeling and the loving way my mom brought me a huge cup of coffee. Gosh!! I miss those day. Those days where you were just a child, didn't have the responsibility of running a family and looking after others; The time when I wasn't an adult. Now, here I am with my 2 year old son on my hips and a nostalgic smile on my lips, waiting for the next fix of this wistful flashback while I get my sweet caffeine.
