Café Culture
How often do you go to a coffee shop here to sit by yourself, have a quiet cup of coffee and maybe read a book or catch up with some work? If your answer is not 'never', it is probably 'not too often' either. The coffee house culture may not have fully kicked off in Bangladesh, but it is surely starting.
Dana Speers, who works at the airport, comes to George's Café in Uttara whenever she has a break. She is a regular and all the waiters are familiar with what she wants. Speers feels comfortable in George's and does not mind sitting there on a regular basis to have some alone time. She has worked overseas in many countries and it is her general observation that one downside of being alone at a café or restaurant anywhere in the world is that you get bad service.
George's Café is one of the most popular coffee places in the city. It has the added advantage of being next to as well as affiliated with the Richmond Hotel. The hotel's lobby has a direct entry to the café and a lot of their guests walk in for a quick bite or their morning coffee at George's.
Manik Moshurul Haque, a waiter at George's Café, says on average around 15 expats drop by and most of them are usually alone and get busy working away on their own.
If you think about it, we, Bangladeshis, are not in the habit of sitting, eating or working anywhere alone because we come from such big families; we are used to being around a large group of people. We take 'the more, the merrier' a bit too seriously.
Cafés are one of the very few options we have for recreational purposes and so we look at it as a chance to have a great time with all the friends instead of just going there for the sake of the coffee.
When I approached Hridoy Islam, a long time friend, on his experience regarding time spent at cafes he became a little sad and said it brought back a bad memory. He used to be up for sitting by himself, ordering something light and working on his laptop at any café, but one day he ran into one of his friends and on seeing him there, working alone, she said, 'Aww!', and gave him a hug. That was the last time he ever went to a café alone.
Not just in cafes but we get looks if we eat alone at a restaurant, watch a movie or sometimes, even shop by ourselves. This is a general perspective that people have developed that in order to have a good time, or be happy, you need to be in the company of at least another person. Honestly, I feel that this thought is what is sad.
However, all the judgment and looks do not bother everyone. At North End, I met Nasim Borno. Borno, a photographer for Prothom Alo, was sitting by himself and working on his laptop. He says he is absolutely fine doing that but he thinks it is because he spent years abroad in the UK and so he knows how normal it is.
Borno is also treated like family at North End so he does not even need to be there with anyone else.
Of course there is nothing wrong in being out for coffee alone. In fact, if you do it once, you will find that it is one of the greater things in life - enjoying being in your own company. So try it sometime. You might be shot with some sad looks, but just pretend you do not see them.
By Maaesha Nuzhat Nazmul
Photo: LS Archive/ Sazzad Ibne Sayed
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