Coffee shops are not just lively hangouts for bubbly college-goers
THE WORLD IN A CUP Cafes offer a lot for people who want to meet

It has been a while since coffee drinking has emerged into a lifestyle habit. Visiting your neighbourhood coffee outlet to relax with friends, family and colleagues has caught on over the last couple of years. However another noticeable trend is that these coffee outlets are also doubling up as workspaces thanks to the increasingly informal work atmosphere. Meeting a client, setting up the initial business talk, working on a pending presentation; all of these can be done over a cup of coffee. With changing attitudes in work cultures, the concept of Friday dressing, informal customer-client interactions, it is perhaps an expected change that work, for several professionals, is stretching to new spaces.

Needless to say coffee outlets are welcoming its new set of customers. Simran Sablok, General Manager–Marketing at Café Coffee Day says, “The trend of using cafes as a workplace is not confined to the metros alone; we see this across the country. People running individual businesses find our cafes an attractive option to meet their clients. The cafes are convenient to discuss business, or meet before a flight out of the city.”

Many cite the ambience and the location at various points in cities as a major plus point. Prakash Paul, voice coach and Radio Jockey cites his reason to use cafes for official meetings: “First the ambience is unofficial, which allows a person in a business like mine to sit and talk to people. Another thing I have noticed is that there is a free flow of thought when people are in an informal atmosphere.”

The other plus point as far as a cordial work atmosphere goes, is wireless connectivity. Many people are seen working alone, either with their files, or on their laptop using the Wi-Fi enabled cafes.

Rini Dutta, VP, Marketing and Product Development, Barista, says: “Given the long working hours and the increasing time spent out of home, our guests sometimes use the espresso bar to catch up on their work. We have noticed this trend is increasing with the progress made in wireless connectivity.”

Whether it is individual businessmen, freelance professionals, executives from a company or people from creative fields cafes are taking a sizeable space in urban life. Rini adds: “Other than chunks of the B-school student community, who get together with classmates to work on a project, we also find entrepreneurs who use Barista as an impromptu office to meet clients and business associates. We are also aware that several senior executives use Barista to meet for job interviews.”

Tapan Roy Choudhury, GM, Operations, Pyramid Retail Ltd. Says: “Cafes are located in central points, which eases out travel time and helps when one wants to have a quick meeting. Many are comfortable to meet a client or colleague at cafes like Coffee Day or Barista though senior executives of a company may meet at a coffee shop of a star hotel, which still is work at a café.”

Even though at times the noise level gets high, people who use cafes for extending their work insist it is ignorable and one can select cafes that have more of an office-going crowd rather than going to a café in a residential area. In any case it is perhaps another way of combining work and fun together.

Smaller families and parents with lesser time on hand means children have to head to activity centres for their dose of play, observes RESHMA KRISHNAMURTHY SHARMA 

MAKING THE MOST OF IT Puppetry hour or a story telling session, children are just lapping up the attention given

Most couples will agree that anything can be child’s play except for parenting. Given today’s hectic life, it is quite a task for parents to line up activities that ensure children are engaged in occupations that stimulate both mental and physical growth.

Earlier these activities would be simple and implemented largely in homes or in schools. Today one finds that an increasing number of activity centres are coming up in cities, a trend that may not be new, but is steadily emerging as the need of the hour.

Recognising the need for children to spend time outside schools and home at a place where they can learn and have fun, a good number of centres have sprung up in the city.

It could be a beginner’s clay modelling session or a puppetry hour or even a story telling session — children are just lapping up the attention given, with specific pastimes that revolve around them. It is not just out-and-out children’s centres that believe in organising activities. Even well-known bookstores are conducting such activities for them.

Smitha Kamath, a working professional and parent of 11-year-old Shraddha says: “Initially we sent Shraddha to Hippocampus, a children’s activity centre, so that she can have easy accessibility to a large number of books but now the centre gives her the experience of more than just books. Whether it was joining gardening or the cooking club at the centre, each of these activities have been a bonus, and in a way, enriched her.”

Heena Vinchhi, mother of nine-year-old Aryamaan and four-year-old Agasthya, (both regulars at a child activity centre) says: “Activity spaces for children make a lot of difference. For one thing, the amount of books they get to read is enormous. Even if families are financially well off, it is quite impractical to have the kind and the number of books that these centres have.” Even if children are exposed to activities like story telling or drawing at home, meeting children their age (who aren’t from the neighbourhood or school) makes a huge difference to their personality, she adds.

Perhaps in the age of nuclear family set-ups in cities, dedicated child activity centres or books stores with a children’s hour give the space, and quality time that children and parents need to spend together.

A point that is stressed by Amit Roy, Operations Head, Oxford Book Store, Airport Road. “Gone are the days when grandmothers would narrate stories and plan stuff for children to do at home. Today parents who are working in high pressure jobs would like to unwind over the weekends at a mall or a space where children would also have something to occupy them. In our store we have a children’s hour every Sunday.”

Leaving a child at a safe place while you get that extra time on hand is also one of the reasons cited by some parents for sending children to specific centres. Others believe that their children get to interact with other likeminded children; which perhaps may not be the case if they interact only with youngsters in the neighbourhood.

According to Anupama S. of Hippocampus, “Parents are free for an hour or two while children are having fun, and so it is a win-win situation.

We don’t necessarily stress on education over here. The idea though is to sensitise children to things around them and let them have fun.”

Pointing out her reason to start Kiara Activity centre, Wendy Dickson says: “We wanted to start a space where children would spend their time creatively and have scope to express their individuality.

“Right from our story club that motivates children to read books to the busy bee club or children’s choir, we believe our activities enhance a child’s personality.”

Hassan, Manager of Crossword bookstore, says: “Our team co-ordinates with a group of teachers who specialise in various activities for children. Whether it is a card-making session or a puppetry hour, parents are quite keen to know what activities we have for children.”

Though one cannot deny that these sessions may translate into bigger business for book stores or children activity centres, yet parents and children seem to benefit from it too.

Trends Bangalore’s theatre scene is seeing a vibrant revival, but enthusiasts crave better quality says RESHMA KRISHNAMURTHY SHARMA

Stage is set Theatre in Bangalore is good but has enough room for improvisation; this comes out as the general consensus amongst theatre lovers

Watching a good play is akin to a rejuvenating experience for many an avid theatre lover. Over the years, theatre has successfully evolved itself and today Bangalore’s theatre scene finds a sizeable audience including the young crowd, who are a s comfortable watching a play, as they are spending time in a café or at the movies. Has theatre become the latest entertainment option?

Acknowledging it to an extent, well known theatre personality and film–maker, M.S. Sathyu says: “Theatre has started witnessing new sects of audience in the form of youngsters who would prefer watching a good play to a boring movie in a cinema hall. A play, according to many, is anytime better than television soaps.”

Today, however the dynamics of theatre in Bangalore works slightly differently from what it was a few decades ago. Kannada theatre groups lament that English theatre gets corporate sponsorships more easily than a Kannada play. Yet they are not dejected as long as the theatre scenario promises to perk up.

Well known stage actress and playwright, B. Jayashree says: “One thing that distinguishes Kannada from English theatre is that on an average it is very difficult to find English plays putting up consistent shows, whereas Kannada plays run for a number of days, with the objective of reaching a wider audience. And ultimately we do find there are people to watch them. Even now if we were to stage the old play ‘Sattavara Neralu’ we know there are people to watch it.”

Pointing out the willingness of youngsters to enter the world of theatre, she adds: “Whether it is backstage or acting, I am glad young people are entering the field. In fact whenever one tells artistes outside the State that you are a stage actor, they jokingly say we are involved with plays all the time — ‘Kar Natak’.”

Is Bangalore’s theatre scene vibrant, compared to other cities? M.S. Sathyu says: “While theatre here may not have evolved as much as in Mumbai, where the number of plays is much higher, the Bangalore theatre scene is any day better than Delhi, where theatre is a seasonal activity.”

Akhila. H, an architect and a keen lover of theatre says: “One thing that is welcome when it comes to Bangalore’s theatre scene is that there are production houses from various cities like Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi that come here and showcase their plays, adding much needed variety. However I do feel there should be a lot more Kannada plays. More people should write good plays and showcase them to boost quality.”

Theatre in Bangalore is good but has enough room for improvisation; this comes out as the general consensus amongst theatre lovers. As Hirianniah Haranahalli, a stage and television actor observes: “There is a lot of experimentation in production. However one thing I do notice is that earlier a play would get publicised and would have run for seasons together. Today directors and theatre groups are taking to different kinds of publicity to get audiences, yet very few manage it on a continuous basis.”

One can sense the keen interest in Ajit Hande, who’s been in theatre for a decade, in having qualitative plays in Bangalore. He remembers one of his favourite plays.

“I happened to watch ‘Palangal’ some time ago though I must admit, I do not understand a single word of Malayalam. Yet, the play was amazing. It proved yet again that good plays could be staged without loud sets or costumes, and with strong scripts. For me theatre in Bangalore is in the reformation stage. More plays that really connect with the audience should be staged and meaningful theatre should happen,” says Ajit.

Most theatre lovers — those working in the medium and those who are lovers of good plays — stress on having more number of quality theatre spaces in the city.

Here’s hoping that we soon have the tag of ‘Theatre Capital’ for Bangalore.