THE CUP AND SAUCER MEMORIES
“.......many of the people there (in India), who are strict in their religion, drink no wine at all; but they use a liquor, more wholesome than pleasant, they call coffee, made by a black seed boiled in water, which turns it almost into the same colour, but doth very little alter the taste of the water. Notwithstanding it is very good to help digestion, to quicken the spirits, and to cleanse the blood" So said Rev Edward Terry, Chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe who was British ambassador to the court of Emperor Jahangir in the early 16th Century. Centuries after that, If there is a taste that connects people and culture in India, then it has to be the Indian Coffee house. A chain which connects 400 cities and towns in India, it has become a part of the common man. For about a century it was the favourite hangout for many sections of people, be it a professional or a labourer, rich or poor. Its legacy as a social meeting place in fostering intellectual discussions is well known, e...