The filter coffee came in a steel tumbler. Hot. Strong. Sweet. I asked the waiter: “What's the news in Chennai today?” He said: “News can wait. Coffee cannot.”
Chennai is not just a city. It's a feeling. The sea. The temples. The music. The coffee.
When I opened “chennai news today” before my trip, I saw:
Cyclone warning in the Bay of Bengal
Waterlogging in some areas
Political drama in the assembly
A metro delay somewhere
I expected a flooded, chaotic, angry city. Then I drank filter coffee.
The coffee shop owner who doesn't read news
His name was Kumar. His coffee shop had been in his family for 60 years.
I asked: “Do you read ‘chennai news today’?”
He laughed. “I read the coffee. If the coffee is good, customers come. If the coffee is bad, they don't. That's my news.”
“But what about the cyclone? The waterlogging? The politics?”
He said: “Cyclone comes every year. We prepare. We manage. Waterlogging happens in some areas. I am not in those areas. Politics? I don't vote for drama. I vote for work.”
“The news makes everything sound like an emergency. But my coffee shop has been open for 60 years through cyclones, floods, and politics. We are still here.”
What I saw in 5 days
No cyclone hit the city while I was there. No waterlogging near my hotel or the places I visited. No political drama on the streets. No metro delay that affected me.
What I saw:
The Marina beach at sunset. Families. Couples. Children flying kites.
The Kapaleeshwarar temple. Quiet. Ancient. Peaceful.
A music concert in the evening. The crowd was spellbound.
A small eatery serving idli and sambar at 5 AM. Workers eating before their shift.
The auto driver who refused to overcharge. “Chennai style,” he said.
This is Chennai. Not the Chennai in “chennai news today”.
What the coffee taught me
Kumar said: “Filter coffee takes 10 minutes to make. You have to be patient. You have to wait. The coffee doesn't rush.”
“News is the opposite. It rushes. It shouts. It demands your attention now.”
“But the coffee is still here after 60 years. The news from 60 years ago? No one remembers.”
The one time news was useful
I asked Kumar: “Has ‘chennai news today’ ever been useful to you?”