Before I begin I would like to mention that I am writing an account of this incident only because my friend Yd told me to write about it. I have been still wondering about the incident.
I had recently been to Bangalore to visit my friends. As usual the hang out place for friends would be malls first. I was in Forum Mall with my friends where I had been to meet a friend of mine after a long time. It was a great evening in Bangalore. My friend asked me, “Where do u wanna go?”
It was 7:00 PM and after having a tiring day my answer was certainly CCD.
Forum Mall has a small CCD in the ground floor which is an open CCD. It looked a little congested unlike the other CCD’s but for me it didn’t matter as long as it was CCD coffee and I had a good company. We both ordered Café Mocha which is one of my favourite flavors.
The coffee tasted amazing and as we got engrossed in our conversation. Suddenly, one guy who looked like someone who generally would be seen at the roadside came up to my friend and asked him, “Yahan pe dhobi ka ghar kahan hai?”
My friend was smart enough to understand that this was some guy who had come to fool us so he gave him so weird direction which never existed and tried to ward him off.
When all this was happening I felt that something was wrong. I started thinking, why would some random chap come up to only both of us of all the people whom he found in CCD and ask for the address? He didn’t look good too. That’s when I realized that I had hung my hand bag on my chair. I turned to have a look at it and it was gone!!
I stood up immediately and told my friend that my bag wasn’t there. I was frantic and went and complained to the CCD people. My friend kept telling me to look around and see if I had mistakenly kept the bag somewhere else. Till then everyone who was there in CCD was looking at me helplessly.
My friend took me to the security and we explained about the whole situation. They told us that there was a camera facing CCD and they could probably see what had happened. They also did a good job by alerting all the security guards in forum about the loss. My friend was trying to calm me down but even he was worried seeing my condition. Thankfully I had my phone in my pocket which I could use to do the needful( contacting my parents, blocking my ATM cards, informing my friends and college authorities too) .
I had 2 ATM cards, my wallet with my PAN card, my train ticket, college ID card, my hostel room keys, my pen drive, money, my ear phones, charger, my one my most precious sketching and the bag was extremely precious to me as it was a gift from my brother.
It was just 2 minutes that all this had happened and I was thinking how to deal with the worst. I still had some hope so went around CCD to search for my bag. It was then when I saw a waiter from CCD and a security guard walking towards me with my hand bag and a plastic bag. It was the 3rd minute after the incident. It was that moment I felt as if I was face to face with the divine. I checked my bag completely. Not a penny had been stolen from it. It was intact and I could just give a million thanks to the security system in forum for giving me my bag back. I had heard about such incidents before so I could figure out the spookiness soon and took the right step at the right moment.
It was then the whole scenario was clear. While that guy who had come up to us and tried to keep us busy in the conversation, there was another guy who flicked the bag from behind, finding me distracted. It was the very right second that I became alert and reacted because of which he started running with my bag towards the other entrance. The security guards were very swift and caught hold of him before he left the mall. He threw away the bag and the packet. I went immediately to the security officers there and thanked them, I don’t know how many times. I wrote a nice feedback in their register. I held my bag close to me. My friend kept consoling me and he was himself wondering what had happened. He was as shocked as I was but we both had a big smile on our face. I was so happy that I went back to CCD to that waiter and thanked him. I always carry a chocolate with me when I travel. This time I had a big bar of Dairy Milk. I gave it to him with a big smile.
My friend was just discussing about the incident and advising me not to carry all important things in a bag always. It was then when I saw an unknown packet with him. I asked him if he had got something in that packet. He plainly refused and said he assumed it would have been mine. We tried to open it and saw some dirty clothes in it. It was certainly the thieves’ clothes. We went to the security officer and gave it back. In the end we both had a hearty laugh over this.
I couldn’t stay inside forum anymore. I moved out with my friend and felt the cool breeze.
I don’t know whom to thank, The Almighty, my lucky stars, the millions of prayers for me that my loved one do everyday for my well being, my alertness, the swiftness of the security guards or my lucky charm who was there with me then.
I can just say : ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN OVER A COFFEE.
Showing posts with label CCD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CCD. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Monday, April 7, 2008
Birthday Blast (21-3-2008)
This year my birthday was really special for me. I was in Ooty. We were a group of 9.
Arif, Mayen, Jayen, Ram, Karan, Ippu, Ani, Sandy and I. I surely knew my birthday and our trip will be fun but never had expected so much out of it. Apart from the normal celebrations we had, the weather of Ooty. It was raining there with chilling cold nights. The whole day we were roaming around in different places and every now and then my friends kept singing the birthday song. Wherever we went they made it so obvious that it was my birthday and always wanted to do something different for me.
MY BIRTHDAY had to be special this year. One reason is so obvious, my trip, and the
other is CCD. I was in CCD on my birthday. Not once but twice. (Nothing unusal in celebrating one's b'day in CCD but mine was different).There are namely, 2 CCD’s in Ooty. I visited the first one, near our hotel during the day and the second one after my treat. We were all very confused as to where we were going for my birthday treat. After thinking over it for long, we all decided to go to a Chinese Restaurant. It wasn’t very far from our hotel. The treat turned out to be a bit disastrous as the food was a perfect Chinese preparation. It was bland and we Indians want a hint of spice in Chinese food also, so all didn’t like it. We were walking back after the treat when we spotted another CCD. It was much bigger and spacious than the previous one. My face lit up seeing that and I went hopping, skipping and jumping within…..all seemed quite relaxed. Now that we entered CCD there was confusion as to where we will sit so that all are comfortable… We tried to sit in all the possible couches. The specialty of some of them was that they had a fire place in the middle but to our disappointment they wouldn’t light that now. We didn’t loose hope. We tried making ourselves comfortable but there was something that was making all of us uneasy. There was one thing to our advantage that at this hour of the night. No body was there except us. There was another small group who came later but was in one corner. In the event of making ourselves comfortable we forgot to even enjoy the music that they were playing. The sound system was pretty good and then came the number which set the mood. It was the …. “Gasolina….”song … Listening to this, Ram started dancing and then why would I stop… It was my solo number… I kept dancing on this track and all my friends were clapping and enjoying themselves too…
This went on…… and all were in action. We made our own corner now arranging the couches and there was room for all to sit comfortably.
But… but…. but .this CCD was not that good as expected as we didn’t get anything that we wanted. It was too late and they didn’t have anything left. We were dying to eat Sizzling Brownie and it was not there. Sad!! We managed with other things such as coffee, milk shake, ice tea, Chocolate sundae but the purpose of being in CCD was not served. We were about to finish when Arif went and asked them to play the song… “Every night…” (Titanic). It was just to irritate Ram and Karan who didn’t like this song but they got pretty serious and walked out of the café. We all were about to leave when Arif suddenly started dancing on this …. Then we all joined as if CCD was all ours. We were enjoying as if the CCD was all ours. No body to stop us. We continued for a while and moved out. I didn’t want to go… I wanted to continue dancing but the fun has to come to a halt as we have to give way for other things to happen. We all were walking back in a jolly mood. My dream of dancing in CCD came true, that too on my birthday. At the end of the day when I just recalled the events of the day I felt that my friends made my day great. The BEST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION I’ve ever had.
Arif, Mayen, Jayen, Ram, Karan, Ippu, Ani, Sandy and I. I surely knew my birthday and our trip will be fun but never had expected so much out of it. Apart from the normal celebrations we had, the weather of Ooty. It was raining there with chilling cold nights. The whole day we were roaming around in different places and every now and then my friends kept singing the birthday song. Wherever we went they made it so obvious that it was my birthday and always wanted to do something different for me.
MY BIRTHDAY had to be special this year. One reason is so obvious, my trip, and the
other is CCD. I was in CCD on my birthday. Not once but twice. (Nothing unusal in celebrating one's b'day in CCD but mine was different).There are namely, 2 CCD’s in Ooty. I visited the first one, near our hotel during the day and the second one after my treat. We were all very confused as to where we were going for my birthday treat. After thinking over it for long, we all decided to go to a Chinese Restaurant. It wasn’t very far from our hotel. The treat turned out to be a bit disastrous as the food was a perfect Chinese preparation. It was bland and we Indians want a hint of spice in Chinese food also, so all didn’t like it. We were walking back after the treat when we spotted another CCD. It was much bigger and spacious than the previous one. My face lit up seeing that and I went hopping, skipping and jumping within…..all seemed quite relaxed. Now that we entered CCD there was confusion as to where we will sit so that all are comfortable… We tried to sit in all the possible couches. The specialty of some of them was that they had a fire place in the middle but to our disappointment they wouldn’t light that now. We didn’t loose hope. We tried making ourselves comfortable but there was something that was making all of us uneasy. There was one thing to our advantage that at this hour of the night. No body was there except us. There was another small group who came later but was in one corner. In the event of making ourselves comfortable we forgot to even enjoy the music that they were playing. The sound system was pretty good and then came the number which set the mood. It was the …. “Gasolina….”song … Listening to this, Ram started dancing and then why would I stop… It was my solo number… I kept dancing on this track and all my friends were clapping and enjoying themselves too…
This went on…… and all were in action. We made our own corner now arranging the couches and there was room for all to sit comfortably.
But… but…. but .this CCD was not that good as expected as we didn’t get anything that we wanted. It was too late and they didn’t have anything left. We were dying to eat Sizzling Brownie and it was not there. Sad!! We managed with other things such as coffee, milk shake, ice tea, Chocolate sundae but the purpose of being in CCD was not served. We were about to finish when Arif went and asked them to play the song… “Every night…” (Titanic). It was just to irritate Ram and Karan who didn’t like this song but they got pretty serious and walked out of the café. We all were about to leave when Arif suddenly started dancing on this …. Then we all joined as if CCD was all ours. We were enjoying as if the CCD was all ours. No body to stop us. We continued for a while and moved out. I didn’t want to go… I wanted to continue dancing but the fun has to come to a halt as we have to give way for other things to happen. We all were walking back in a jolly mood. My dream of dancing in CCD came true, that too on my birthday. At the end of the day when I just recalled the events of the day I felt that my friends made my day great. The BEST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION I’ve ever had.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
The magic in those pods………….
It’s not an ipod I am talking about but these are those magical coffee beans inside the Coffee pods that make the difference. I am going to talk about my love for coffee and I know there are lot of coffee lovers who’ll be interested in reading this.
Coming from a South Indian (Tamil) family, I ought to be in the habit of drinking coffee at least once in a day (as the conception goes); it certainly is true but hasn’t gone to the level of addiction in my case. It’s bitter, it’s intoxicating and it rejuvenates our soul. For some it’s refreshing, for some it helps to make them stay awake the whole night or to relax after the long tiring hours. For me .......it’s my love. A sip of good coffee changes my mood. I started liking coffee from the age of 10 . Mom used to just add a drop of the coffee liquor and then give it to me saying it’s coffee… slowly as I grew up I got to know that my mom was fooling me all these years and I got the actual taste of coffee. Nescafe and then Nescafe Sunrise also were really good but I was already used to having the proper filter coffee in the morning. As soon as I get up, there’ll be a cup of steaming hot coffee ready for me but I was never habituated to have “STRONG” coffee. That’s what helped me a lot in future in not becoming a coffee addict. I knew how much I could have and how it would be without having coffee. So I was without coffee for almost 3 months. I had seen coffee addicts who had spoilt their health by having coffee. Day by day the controversies over coffee increased. Some said it was good for health and some research articles said they didn’t. Not bothering about all this I continued my liking for coffee. I had been hearing about Café Coffee Day since long but had not got a chance to try out the coffee they serve there until I came to college. We had filter coffee made at home with the freshly ground coffee beans from Coffee Day.
Today when I sit back to think about all this I feel I have come a long way as I am one of the greatest fan of Café Coffee Day. I have tried most of the flavors out there and can really suggest people about the kind of coffee they must take there. Three years back when I was at home I wanted to try out coffee in CCD but didn’t get the right company but coming to college I got a chance to try out what I wanted. First of all the place attracted me. They made it a point to make it comfortable for people to sit and chat, talk for hours, have a nice sip of coffee and just enjoy the moment there. One this to consider is the right hand side of the menu card but I think, CCD coffee can be affordable once in a while at least for people to whom the left side matters otherwise for a change and it’ll be worth it. Second thing to consider is the coffee they serve….. Nothing to beat it (except Mom’s coffee). My favourites there are Café Mocha and Café Latte but I got with the former one often . I get elated when I see the red and white symbol. It also indicates one of my fav colour combo’s. so all the more my love for coffee increased.
This made me do some research on CCD. Set up in 1996 and run by ABCTCL( Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd). The first CCD was set up in Brigade Road , Bangalore. Recently, when I was on my way to Mysore with my family , we stopped at CCD in the highway to have coffee. As I was standing at the counter waiting for my coffee , I read a message that was put up there on the wall. It read, “ You have something missing in your coffee.” There was a smiley that was with this message!!!! I think my previous blog entry, A Smile….goes along with my coffee too.
So…if u r a coffee lover and haven’t had a chance to sip a CCD coffee.. I suggest you…. GIVE IT A TRY. (Of course there’s none to beat the taste of a homemade coffee or the coffee we get in any ofour favourite coffee vendor’s shop ).
Coming from a South Indian (Tamil) family, I ought to be in the habit of drinking coffee at least once in a day (as the conception goes); it certainly is true but hasn’t gone to the level of addiction in my case. It’s bitter, it’s intoxicating and it rejuvenates our soul. For some it’s refreshing, for some it helps to make them stay awake the whole night or to relax after the long tiring hours. For me .......it’s my love. A sip of good coffee changes my mood. I started liking coffee from the age of 10 . Mom used to just add a drop of the coffee liquor and then give it to me saying it’s coffee… slowly as I grew up I got to know that my mom was fooling me all these years and I got the actual taste of coffee. Nescafe and then Nescafe Sunrise also were really good but I was already used to having the proper filter coffee in the morning. As soon as I get up, there’ll be a cup of steaming hot coffee ready for me but I was never habituated to have “STRONG” coffee. That’s what helped me a lot in future in not becoming a coffee addict. I knew how much I could have and how it would be without having coffee. So I was without coffee for almost 3 months. I had seen coffee addicts who had spoilt their health by having coffee. Day by day the controversies over coffee increased. Some said it was good for health and some research articles said they didn’t. Not bothering about all this I continued my liking for coffee. I had been hearing about Café Coffee Day since long but had not got a chance to try out the coffee they serve there until I came to college. We had filter coffee made at home with the freshly ground coffee beans from Coffee Day.
Today when I sit back to think about all this I feel I have come a long way as I am one of the greatest fan of Café Coffee Day. I have tried most of the flavors out there and can really suggest people about the kind of coffee they must take there. Three years back when I was at home I wanted to try out coffee in CCD but didn’t get the right company but coming to college I got a chance to try out what I wanted. First of all the place attracted me. They made it a point to make it comfortable for people to sit and chat, talk for hours, have a nice sip of coffee and just enjoy the moment there. One this to consider is the right hand side of the menu card but I think, CCD coffee can be affordable once in a while at least for people to whom the left side matters otherwise for a change and it’ll be worth it. Second thing to consider is the coffee they serve….. Nothing to beat it (except Mom’s coffee). My favourites there are Café Mocha and Café Latte but I got with the former one often . I get elated when I see the red and white symbol. It also indicates one of my fav colour combo’s. so all the more my love for coffee increased.
This made me do some research on CCD. Set up in 1996 and run by ABCTCL( Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd). The first CCD was set up in Brigade Road , Bangalore. Recently, when I was on my way to Mysore with my family , we stopped at CCD in the highway to have coffee. As I was standing at the counter waiting for my coffee , I read a message that was put up there on the wall. It read, “ You have something missing in your coffee.” There was a smiley that was with this message!!!! I think my previous blog entry, A Smile….goes along with my coffee too.
So…if u r a coffee lover and haven’t had a chance to sip a CCD coffee.. I suggest you…. GIVE IT A TRY. (Of course there’s none to beat the taste of a homemade coffee or the coffee we get in any ofour favourite coffee vendor’s shop ).
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