Filter Coffee

Chapter 1

The early morning mist had not settled yet and there was a distinct cooing and chirping of the birds as Anusha made her way through to the top of the stairs, stumbling twice already and spilling most of the birdseeds and the long expired packet of dry grapes. The terrace floor was damp, like her hair which she had managed to wrap around in a white towel, evident of the slight downpour from the night before.

She hastily hurried to the edge of the wall and emptied the birdseeds and the grapes. The birds came chirping out of the horizon and soon, a great flock descended, threatening to peck her away, if she stood anywhere near them or their food.

She stopped for a moment or two, gazing at the little forms eating their heart out in chaos, and smiled. This would be the part of her day where she could look at something this beautiful and smile at it for a while. The great rusty 110-year old grandpa clock struck 6:00 and already the so-called "great part of the day" had ended. She hurried downstairs, ducking her head in the process, as the wall at the end of the stairs was too low, even for a person with a height like Anusha.

Her mom was awake already and was swiftly mastering 'breakfast in 15 minutes' like every weekday. There were a flurry of activities going on in the kitchen, evident from the funny sounds the vessels made and the aroma that filled the entire home.

"Amma! Not again. I can't be late." Anu exclaimed in frustration, looking at her disoriented mother who had a wok in one hand and a stirrer in the other.

"Aiyoo.. Sorry Anu." her mom said wryly. "My mobile somehow got switched off and I over-slept."

"You don't say. If it takes a second past 6:20, I'm not taking lunch." Anu said. "Or breakfast." she quickly added.

She closed the bedroom's door and began changing into a bottle green salwar. The struggle was real. She had put on some weight during the holidays and fitting the dress through her somewhat-fluffy-belly seemed like the toughest thing to do right now. 'Why can't I have something like Iron Man's armour? Just press a button and Jarvis dresses you up head to toe. Hmmpf.. The diet should work.' she thought to herself. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror.

A girl with an arched, wild eyebrows - the result of being too lazy to visit the parlour once every two weeks, and a slightly curly thick black hair that had gone partly brown because of ignoring several oiling routines, a high cheek bone and a lushy pink lips, starred back at her. There was a mild trace of dark circles under her eyes; thanks to the endless hours of staring at the PC for useless C# tutorials. She was not what you'd call lean, but she was a long way from fat. The dress clinged on to her curves readily and she had to hold her breath for 5 seconds to see how dashing she'd look without that slightly protruding tummy of hers.

She dried her wild, untameable mane and applied some toner under her eyes. She then wound her hair into a high pony tail, brushing the ends atleast a hundred times. She examined her face and always thought it looked better without the bindi. But considering how her mom would explode each time she saw her without one, she reluctantly drew a small one with her eyeliner, at an equidistant position from her eyebrows. Examining herself fully for the last time, she headed out, simultaneously managing to tie a watch onto her wrist.

The time was 6:17 and her mom was still in the kitchen. The TV was on full volume like every other morning and the Suprabhatham was going on. As a hindu, she was taught to pray or pay her respects to the god even if he was on live television. So she took her right hand to her chest for a split second then she made a gesture of kissing her index finger, closing her eyes. A hot smoke emerged from the kitchen veiling everything that came behind it.

"It's ready. Eat now. There is time Anu. You will catch the train. Don't worry." Came her mom's voice apprehensively.

Her mom would even hide the world's ending to make Anu gobble down a few chunks of food. She was more concerned of her daughter's appetite that seemed to be going downhill nowadays. Soon, steaming hot idlis were slided into Anusha's plate. Her mom poured some piping hot Sambhar into a small bowl and spread some chutney on her plate. She also gave her a tumbler of filter coffee, out of which, fresh ground coffee aroma was oozing out and into every nook and corner of the room.