Sweet Sexy and definitely Sinful

A cup of sensuous dark coffee. I confess, I have a love affair with coffee, it started many years ago like a harmless flirtation, you know ,the occasional cup once in a while. My thoughts go back to childhood as I remember the first time we met,  it was at a wedding and a couple of us friends picked up the steaming hot cups, a can of Cadburys with holes in the lid, snowing cocoa powder on the rich froth . In my eagerness and naivete I burnt my lips on the scalding hot liquid, the pain is long forgotten but the sweet taste of my first time still lingers.

I came face to face with the real Italian thing in my first job. Straight out of the Oberoi management trainee program, my first assignment was managing 'Esmeralda' the meditarranean restaurant at the Oberoi New Delhi.

We used to make some of the finest coffee in town,  the aroma of freshly ground Arabica and the sound of milk being frothed at just the right temperature filled the air. A great Espresso needs steamed water at just the right temperature, rushing through coffee grounds roasted and ground just so and packed tightly enough into the apparatus resulting in a gorgeous ebony colored liquid with a ring of light brown foam or crema. Those cute little cups of Espresso knocked the air out of little boys but were savored amorously by those who had been there and done that.

 Believe me, once your lips have tasted the real thing, it is enough to get hooked. It's like a maddening addiction, your friends and wellwishers tell you to stay away. "Sunil at your age you really need to switch to a heart friendly option" says my doctor; concerned. My friend Mallika wants me to try Kadha made with ginger and honey and black pepper.

I'm like the hero in a seventies Hindi movie being warned against going to the 'other woman' for she is too wanton and lusty. Yet you don't heed their advice and choose to go with the dangerous rather than stay with the homely comfort of green tea or the more family oriented version stewed with ginger and milk and lots of sugar.

As I pop antacids every morning, I tell myself I'm not going to drink coffee anymore, that I'll have healthier options like tea or even water, yes that's it, lots of water, it'll detox my sytem and keep me hydrated. it works for a couple of days, well truthfully, for a day or even less.

And then I go all cold turkey, the craving begins gnawing at my insides. My brain has gotten used to the caffeine highs and refuses to pick up the tools and get to work in the morning. All negotiations to get my striking body to get back to work fail. Pretty soon, my hands move with a will of their own and the brain has already done a mutiny on the bounty on me and I find myself pouring hot water into a cup of instant.

Not the same thing, but then, it'll have to do. As I sip, the life comes  back into me. I can register what the wife and kids are saying. The maid wants me to get up from the sofa as she needs to mop under it. I no longer feel like a zombie, caffeine is cruising my veins once again.

 Every once in a while, I'll drop in at the Costa Cafe at the DLF Crosspoint Mall in Gurgaon for my illicit cup. The tables by the large glass windows are the next best thing to  being in a Parisian Bistro and watching the world go by. Sitting at the corner table, I can see the cars go by. The glass keeps me in airconditioined comfort and the noise is faraway. For some reason coffee also seems to draw pretty women, the young and the seasoned sophisticated ones. I thank the Lord that Robusta and Arabica bring in more cute young things than hairly blokes.

It's a nice place, this particular coffee shop, I get good vibes here. Today I order a slice of Winter Truffle cake to go with my Americano. The guys at the counter know my regular order and bring me the coffee, dark, exotic and inviting. The edges of the cup have a hint of crema, the sign of a good brew. I sigh in contentment and soon my spoon is sliding through layers of chocolate cake and a sooo sexy chocolate filling. The chocolate sticks to the roof of my mouth and then slowly langurously, its sweet darkness crawls down my throat. Ummm... that feels so nice. And then the sip of dark black coffee, its bitterness and the sweet sour taste at the end, the warm feeling spreading across my entire being.

I smile at the world, sated, I'm sure the world smiled back, parts of it ignore me completely, but who cares. I'm happy.