<p>I wonder why people call it a “tea break” even when they drink coffee and not tea! I guess it is because the cricket matches have “tea breaks” and not coffee breaks. Whether the cricket players drink tea or coffee, I have no idea. But it is a “tea break” for those who watch matches. While I was serving in a state government office in the late 1960s, we had breaks, one before lunch and another after lunch. More than tea or coffee, it was a break from the monotonous routine of office work. Some took more than two breaks, whenever they wished. Some took breaks for tea or coffee, and some smoked after tea or coffee.</p>.<p>Our tea break was in a small, makeshift tea shop across the road in front of our office. It had just two long wooden benches placed across two sides of the shed. The benches could accommodate four or five people to sit in a row to enjoy a hot cup of freshly brewed drink. The tea shop also served breakfast, and there were a few who depended on it for their daily breakfast.</p>.<p>The tea shop owner, or the Chaiwala, as one would prefer to call him, was a subscriber to the popular Kannada daily “Praja Vani.” The tea shop served as our library! We never missed reading the daily, for free. But with so many at the coffee shop at a time, how would one be able to read the paper? We used to shuffle the pages and distribute them amongst us. While one is reading a page, another sitting by one’s side used to crane his neck to read the opposite page. Once they finished reading one side of a page, the paper was to be flipped so that they could read the other side of the page.</p>.<p>Many times, we found the news quite absorbing. And that was when we ordered our second cup of coffee so that we had the right to prolong our sitting while reading the paper, with each one chipping in with their own opinions and comments. But this time, it was by-two coffee.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The by-two coffee, meaning two half cups of coffee, had a distinctive advantage. The tea was served in two cups, each filled with about half a cup. But while filling each cup, each cup was filled with more than half of the cup!</p>.<p class="bodytext">The “One by Two” coffee/tea was a big hit. But wait, if we are three people? It was then “two by three.” There were occasions when it was “Three by Five” too!</p>.<p class="bodytext">I find this “by-two” culture has been given a “bye-bye” now.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Recently, I came across an eatery by the name of “By Two” in Bengaluru’s Chamarajapet, close to the landmark Uma Theatre, one of the few single-screen theatres still standing. Can they revive the “By Two” culture?</p>.<p class="bodytext">Do they serve “By Two” coffee? I am yet to find out!</p>
<p>I wonder why people call it a “tea break” even when they drink coffee and not tea! I guess it is because the cricket matches have “tea breaks” and not coffee breaks. Whether the cricket players drink tea or coffee, I have no idea. But it is a “tea break” for those who watch matches. While I was serving in a state government office in the late 1960s, we had breaks, one before lunch and another after lunch. More than tea or coffee, it was a break from the monotonous routine of office work. Some took more than two breaks, whenever they wished. Some took breaks for tea or coffee, and some smoked after tea or coffee.</p>.<p>Our tea break was in a small, makeshift tea shop across the road in front of our office. It had just two long wooden benches placed across two sides of the shed. The benches could accommodate four or five people to sit in a row to enjoy a hot cup of freshly brewed drink. The tea shop also served breakfast, and there were a few who depended on it for their daily breakfast.</p>.<p>The tea shop owner, or the Chaiwala, as one would prefer to call him, was a subscriber to the popular Kannada daily “Praja Vani.” The tea shop served as our library! We never missed reading the daily, for free. But with so many at the coffee shop at a time, how would one be able to read the paper? We used to shuffle the pages and distribute them amongst us. While one is reading a page, another sitting by one’s side used to crane his neck to read the opposite page. Once they finished reading one side of a page, the paper was to be flipped so that they could read the other side of the page.</p>.<p>Many times, we found the news quite absorbing. And that was when we ordered our second cup of coffee so that we had the right to prolong our sitting while reading the paper, with each one chipping in with their own opinions and comments. But this time, it was by-two coffee.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The by-two coffee, meaning two half cups of coffee, had a distinctive advantage. The tea was served in two cups, each filled with about half a cup. But while filling each cup, each cup was filled with more than half of the cup!</p>.<p class="bodytext">The “One by Two” coffee/tea was a big hit. But wait, if we are three people? It was then “two by three.” There were occasions when it was “Three by Five” too!</p>.<p class="bodytext">I find this “by-two” culture has been given a “bye-bye” now.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Recently, I came across an eatery by the name of “By Two” in Bengaluru’s Chamarajapet, close to the landmark Uma Theatre, one of the few single-screen theatres still standing. Can they revive the “By Two” culture?</p>.<p class="bodytext">Do they serve “By Two” coffee? I am yet to find out!</p>