I was wondering what would happen to the 'Cafe Culture' if such a ban were put in place in Delhi! After all, laws also effect shifts in culture.
The cafe culture started in Europe and its popularity peaked in the late 19th -early 20th century. It was a place of congregation for artistes and intellectual and wannabes. The 'cafe culture' became representative of a place where radical ideas were formed, thrashed out and an air of languor allowed to linger in between.
In India, long before Baristas and the likes dotted the city, Delhi's favourite was the Coffee Home where professors and intellectuals would cross swords and cups, discuss literature, politics and measure out their lives in coffee spoons. While I know that today's cafes are far from the old romantic hub of buzzing personas, but they still remind one of the lineage of the cafes.
We all know that smoking and coffee form an integral part of the coffee experience. In the old days after a 5-course dinner, the men withdrew to the drawing rooms to smoke and have their coffee.
And the cafe would always be a little misty with tobacco odour. If today you pull out the cigarettes, you also take out the smokers, those loving rascals who take on life. And when you do bar the smoker, what do you get?
Well! You end up with a McDonald for coffee drinkers.
I don't clap for smoke and smokers. No siree! I am no smoker, never been one. Actually I am not even a connoisseur of coffee. But I say this for I feel if such blanket bans are put in place anywhere in the world they also lead to a significant cultural change. No wonder the French are protecting their love-affair with the cigarette.
France has nearly 12 million smokers and they see the cafe life as an integral part of their daily routine. It's but natural for them to get enraged as they view smoking as one of the 'life's daily pleasures'- a veritable right. So what's the answer? A flexible ban that excludes cafes, bars and restaurants? It may work in France but not here... eh!
The problem is that in a country like India... ban or no ban, nothing matters. 'Everything goes' is the attitude and this is a real spoiler. How many people who smoke anyway respect the ban on smoking publicly?
A public ban on smoking is healthy but then what happens to cafes and its culture? Goes up in smoke? France, I wonder!About the AuthorGarima Dutt Garima Dutt is the Web Producer and Web Anchor for IBNLive.com and produces/anchors broadband shows on entertainment etc. She also writes for Ibnlive....Read Morefirst published:October 04, 2006, 17:20 ISTlast updated:October 04, 2006, 17:20 IST
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I was reading some old news and stuff and all this talk about banning smoking in cafes and bars in France had me thinking about our own desi cafes. Notwithstanding their insulated, sterile environment they still let you enjoy a breather after work, not to mention the some good, some bad coffee. And the environment is a happy compromise with smoking and non-smoking zones in almost all cafes.
I was wondering what would happen to the 'Cafe Culture' if such a ban were put in place in Delhi! After all, laws also effect shifts in culture.
The cafe culture started in Europe and its popularity peaked in the late 19th -early 20th century. It was a place of congregation for artistes and intellectual and wannabes. The 'cafe culture' became representative of a place where radical ideas were formed, thrashed out and an air of languor allowed to linger in between.
In India, long before Baristas and the likes dotted the city, Delhi's favourite was the Coffee Home where professors and intellectuals would cross swords and cups, discuss literature, politics and measure out their lives in coffee spoons. While I know that today's cafes are far from the old romantic hub of buzzing personas, but they still remind one of the lineage of the cafes.
We all know that smoking and coffee form an integral part of the coffee experience. In the old days after a 5-course dinner, the men withdrew to the drawing rooms to smoke and have their coffee.
And the cafe would always be a little misty with tobacco odour. If today you pull out the cigarettes, you also take out the smokers, those loving rascals who take on life. And when you do bar the smoker, what do you get?
Well! You end up with a McDonald for coffee drinkers.
I don't clap for smoke and smokers. No siree! I am no smoker, never been one. Actually I am not even a connoisseur of coffee. But I say this for I feel if such blanket bans are put in place anywhere in the world they also lead to a significant cultural change. No wonder the French are protecting their love-affair with the cigarette.
France has nearly 12 million smokers and they see the cafe life as an integral part of their daily routine. It's but natural for them to get enraged as they view smoking as one of the 'life's daily pleasures'- a veritable right. So what's the answer? A flexible ban that excludes cafes, bars and restaurants? It may work in France but not here... eh!
The problem is that in a country like India... ban or no ban, nothing matters. 'Everything goes' is the attitude and this is a real spoiler. How many people who smoke anyway respect the ban on smoking publicly?
A public ban on smoking is healthy but then what happens to cafes and its culture? Goes up in smoke? France, I wonder!
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