LIFE IN CAFE'S

LIFE IN CAFE'S

Cafe provides happiness

Smell of sun and spice

The elements of happiness

But people have forgotten that

They come in with their machines

The computers, iPhones, with wires attached

That's the modern cafe's

No one talks to any one

Some of them talk very loudly on their phones

Without any consideration of the one who might...

Be eading a book...

Which is quite rare these days...

Watching that no one has a book in their hands

except me...

I was pretty surprised

When I saw people, experts, scientists,

Talk show guests

All sitting in-front of book shelves

ALots of book shelves

With lots of books

I was very surprised

Do they still read books?

But I never see them with a book in cafe's

I guess they read books at home

May be?

They must read

Otherwise why do they have so many books?

And why do always sit in-front of a book shelf

When they are invited for their expertise

On Cable tv ?

I guess, to show off

To show us that they have books

And they are all in their nice book shelves

No dust on those books

At least I don't see any dust on their books

They are all nicely lined up with titles facing us

And the camera...

Is that intentional?

I saw some impressive titles sitting right behind them

Shakespeare and Dante

Am I sure?

Yes, I am sure...

I saw collection of Shakespeare

And in another house in catskills

With Palm trees out side

Plus mountains high above

They had perfect camera angles

And the light

Very complementry

And of course, the book shelf full of books

And flowers

But flowers were artificial

Why any one who lives in catskill

I mean, they don't live there

Those are the second homes for the rich Manhanites

But how come they don't ahve fresh flowers?

Am I sure that the flowers I saw

Were artificial?

For sure

I pay lots of attention to flowers

They were for sure not real flowers

I saw them clearly

Because they were sitting on top of the book shelf

near Dante's Inferno...

These people read Dante?

Wow..I was impressed

But I have never seen any one

And I mean any one reading DANTE in a cafe

And I have spent my life in cafe's

Those places are my social clubs

And also you see people there

All so serious

Doing their work

I mean I have not seen any one reading

Or even carrying a serious book in a cafe...

And that is even beore the technology came in...

But they do have books at home

That was a surprise...

I mean I have an anylytical nature

So I wonder if people don't read books

How come they have so many book shelves

Full of books?

Actually that's what I see

In the time of Covid-19

Because they are all appearing on tv

From their homes

Maybe they went out and bought all those books

And book shelves for their interviews now

But thats not possible

Because all the book shops are closed

I know

I go to book stores a lot

I found a book store last year

They have some books outside their store

Those books only costs a dollar

And I really buy one every day

On my way back home from the cafe

It's on my way back home

Some days I say to my self,

No more books please

Because my book shelves are quiet messy

And getting much mote messier

Since the discovery of this new book store

But no matter how much I promise myself

not to go there...

I by some magic arrive in that particulr street...

Then I say to myself, 'Just look but don't buy today."

"Ok."  I say

And then I explore...

That is really the fun part

To eplore

You never know what you will find...

And I never ever go home without finding a book or two

And some times three even...

"Don't buy any more books."

I say to myself again

"You ...have no place any more."

Books are on the tables, kitchen table,

Dressing table,

Coffee table, on the carpet

Near the bed

On the sofa

Books are every where...

Mostly the old dead writers

I like dead writers

Dead people

I am very fond of dead people

They are nice to me

They teach me things

They don't yell and scream

They don't show attitude with their gestures

In the cafe when they see me with my book

And my flip phone...

I know whta they are thinking

When they see my flip phone on the table

I think like to keep my flip phone on the table

Right in-front of me...

So in case any one calls

No one actually calls any more

Because they text

And I don't

And they can't be bothered with someone

Who doesn't text...

So the phone doesn't ring much

But I still keep it right in-front of me

In case some one calls...

I live in Manhattan

And you know Manhattan people

Are so busy with their careers

They don't have time for some one who doesn't text

It used to upset me, my phone never ringing

But I don't care any more

I really don't

You don't believe me

But I don't care for those kinds of people

I have lots of friends

I mean dead friends

The authors of the books

I am fond of...

They are all my friends

I have so many friends

That I have no time for people

But most of the people don't like me

May be they do

But my analytical nature says,"

"That modern people with modern

Technology don't like you."

"When you walk in the cafe's they look at you

Like you are an alien .'

"What is she doing here in this fancy french cafe."

They say that to themselves

I know it

I know thats what they are saying to themselves

I have skills of reading faces

Reading gestures

I love that

I love that now

It used to bother me

When people gave me looks in the past

"Of what the hell is she doing in this expensive

French cafe with a book in her hand written by a French author."

"I am here because it's a French cafe and I enjoy

reading my book by a French author, what better place

to read Proust and have a medeline than this fancy, real French cafe?"

I want to say to them

But I don't bother

I just enjoy their busy body sense of importance

I learn from their gestures towards me...

It inspire me, their un-sophisticated behavior

'Oh! god, tey are in anice place

With flowers, classical music, chocolate croissnats

And they look so unhappy...

'Why go to a cafe, spend money and look miserable

giving me a feeling,

"That I don't belong here in the elegantly fine French cafe."

I want to tell them,

"Darlings,  I belong here more than any one of you..."

Because I read books written by French authors

And you don't even know their names...

Actually you don't belong here with wires hanging

From your ears and your loud conversations over the wires"

Talk to me nice so I can tell you about Falubert,

And Victor Hugo, and Dumas,  and Mallarux and Camus

You should at least know the name of Camus...

He wrote a book named, THE PLAGUE

And we are all going through the same kind of plague

Right now with Corona Virus...

Get your hearts softened a bit about human beings

even if they have a flip phone and no wires hanging

From their ears...

Camus said in his book,

"Plague is here because the human hearts are hardened."

I am so used to people with hearts not so soft...

That it doesn't surprise me any more...

But what I enjoy the most now is when people

make sarcastic remarks about me to me...

What nerve...

They think I don't understand

But I do

I understand a lot

I have a degree

And I read the dead French writers in real French cafe's

I know  little about, "Existentialism."

I know we are nothing, absolutely nothing, completely

Powerless in our existence...

Which can be snached away in a fraction of a second...

Danger is just around the corner...

Life can leave us behind in a second

Life can vanish at this very moment

In this very cafe where all of us should be equal...

We are all paying for our coffee and croissant...

We are all equal...

We are all prisoners of death

Sooner or later death is going to accompany us for ever and ever...

Be nice

We are all going through the tragedy of Covid-19

And we are all mortal creatures

We are all in the shadow of death...

So please don't give me looks

Because I don't look like you

And I have a flip phone

But we are in the same cafe.

We have good taste

So let me finish my latte, it's getting cold

And I love boiling hot coffee...

I am weired, Right?

You are right...

I was born in a village far away from here

But now I am here in the same cafe with all of you...

Just smile,

For God's sake...

Smile.

Life is fragile and delicate

And life is too short...

Don't forget Corona?

Virus is right behind us.....

Before Corona Virus...

There was lot of elitisim

Though it's not England

Where class system is so prominent

Even if you are born in England

But have a different shade

People will behave differently

I guess according to the shade of your skin color

It's not that obvious here in America

But there are different cities where people

behave differntly

Nyc is the Mecca of attitude

New Yorkers behave differently to Immigrants

There are elite restaurants where rich elite go

There are elegantly elite cafe's where the high society goes...

Since I like cafe's

I am always on the look out for new places to open

And I don't care if I am elite or not

I just need to have enough money for a coffee

and some times a meeline

And I am ok...I go...

Few years ago one of the most fashionable cafe

Owned by a super celebrity opened

It was called Balthazar

You couldn't get reservation there for one whole year

And it was expensive as hell...

After a while they opened one are of the retaurant

Near the bar area and made it into a cafe area

It opened early in the morning

One could go for breakfast or coffee

I went there and I loved it

And I became a regular

I went there every day without fail for at least one yaer

Every body got to know me and became my friend

I felt extremely comfortable there...

I would read the London Guardian, New York Times,

and then do some of my own work

Draw or write...

There were huge and beautiful windows there

And people could see you from out side...

One day, a woman, not a friend but a casual acquinatance ...

walked in there and came over to me and just sat down

Without asking me just sat down at my table...

I wanted to be polite

I am usually very polite person

And I was actually not offended that she sat down

without asking me...

I am not that formal...

But within a fraction of a second

She in a very aggressive mmanner said,

"Oh! You are always at Balthazar reading

And we are always working...

And abruptly left.

I was stunned

Stunned at her bad manners

After that I couldn't read my book

I remeber I was reading, "Paris Spleen."

A collection of prose poems by Boudelaire

My very favorite writer/poet

Who was always talking about beauty  and aesthetics...

'"Soon the beauty and it's aesthetics will completely vanish

From the world because of new Technology."

And it reminded me how true it was after that woman left.

"With beauty and aesthetics all grace and all manners will also vanish"

I said to my self...

We are in 21st Century and the technology has completely

taken over humanity and people have become machines themselves

They have no idea how to deal with human beings...

And now many years have passed since that incident

And I am in another fancy cafe and Corona-Virus is spreading like fire

But there is no lockdown yet and cafe's are still open...

I truely hope that after this tragedy of Covid-19 passess

We will assume our natural instincts of humanity

to be kind to others, to respect others, to cherish all

Skin color, status, elitisim  should be completely discarded

All humanity should realize, especially now

That we are at the edge of a high cliff

And we can slip and fall from that cliff any second...

Corona is just around the corner...

Spreading it's burning like ferocious fire with great anger...

I guess the Corona is angry at us...

Because we have lost grace

Because we have lost beauty

Because we are not kind to others....