Irani Chai vs Barista/CCD Coffee

Being a true blue Hyderabadi who can’t walk straight unless at least a cup of Irani courses through my blood vessels, Iget my daily dose of Irani chai at a local Irani. I either go to ADarsh near MLA quarters for the morning's cup or to Bombay Bakery and Restaurant at Gunfoundry for the afternoon cup. So far I haven’t had an oppurtinity or an inclination to get my caffeine dose at joints like Barista and Café Coffee Day. But a couple of Sundays ago, I had to meet friends (new ones, I meet all my old ones in Irani’s only) who might not have seen the inside of an Irani in their lives.

Anyway, I found there wasn't much difference between my local Irani and these new joints. The waiters at the Irani wear uniforms and those at the coffee joints too wear them. (Okay, they wear caps at CCD/Barista.) There’s a variety of fare at the Irani (chota samosa, bada samosa, mirchi, dil pasand, dil kusha, egg puffs…) and in these coffee joints too there is a variety of stuff to eat, only with fancy names. Of course, here they don’t shout the order to the kitchen. They politely write it down and go away. Maybe, when they are in the kitchen they shout it. But I didn't hear any shouting at the Barista I was in.

Then, there’s the crowd. Here there is a difference. You won’t find many autowallahs drinking one by two chai at the coffee joints. (I’ve no idea if they serve one by two.) Also, you won’t find many people over thirty at Barista and CCD. The day I was at Barista at Jubilee Hills, I guess I was the only customer they had since a long time who was over forty. (They were staring at me the way we stare at people who are wheeled on a stretcher into emergency rooms in hospitals.) Every one is young and trendy. So trendy that even the girls smoked.

People actually bring their laptops here and the joints even provide facilities for browsing the net and recharging your laptop. Sometimes I take my notebook (the paper variety) to the Irani to scribble.

The only difference was the price. In the Irani a cup costs just four bucks whereas you have to pay ten times or more for a cup of the plainest coffee in Barista/CCD. Another difference is that Irani hotels in Hyderabad are ‘men-only’ places where as girls seem to outnumber guys in Barista/CCD.

However, it was an enjoyable afternoon that I had at Barista that Sunday with friends who were doing the NaNoWriMo. We had a long talk about writing, books and favorite authors.

Also, you don’t have to go searching for an Irani hotel in Hyderabad; every lane has one. Or else, Hyderabad wouldn’t be Hyderabad.