Crisp And Delicious!

‘Olive Beans’ is a cluster of episodes spun around a cafe owned by Maya. Stories that whip up emotions of love, sorrow, grief and joy. It’s an unstoppable read

Reeti Kalia, management student, professional and wife of an Army Officer, stirs your heart with her maiden book titled ‘Olive Beans.’ A gamut of short stories has been brilliantly spun from the repertoire of people that Maya, the protagonist in her book has connected with, through her café, ‘Olive Beans.’ In fact, the café, owned by Maya, wife of an Army Officer, is the long-running thread that weaves all the short stories into a delightful applique work, stitched as they are with the colourful threads of emotions and varied expressions so easily narrated in black and white.

Maya, aptly writes in her narration about her café, located in Bengaluru, “I have seen smiles, frowns, heartbreaks and love walk in through the door. When I set up the café, I imagined a place where I shared a friendship with the people who walked in. It’s the “experience” I dreamt to create, that keeps me going.

“Nestled amidst tall Banyan and Gulmohar trees, Olive Beans is at the right distance from where the action is. Young professionals, college students, housewives, middle-aged executives and bored souls all find their way here. It certainly is not the plushest place around but undoubtedly has the happiest vibe.’’

‘Olive Beans’ literally spills the beans on relationships of love, sometimes studded with hate, despair and sorrow. Whether it is Arjun, Maya’s college friend who had wanted to win her over as a life partner in their college, feels ‘feelings don’t leave even if the person does’ and stops from marrying someone else. Sarika, who loses her fauji husband in a fatal air crash or Meera Sarvanna, who is a regular at the café with her husband and it’s here that they find their ‘lost’ son; Maya is deeply and emotionally involved in the real-life stories of some of her regular customers.

Sarika’s story is a representation of what happens to so many young wives of young Armed Forces Personnel whose spouses suddenly pass away, in real life, fighting for the country or due to a freak accident, on duty. When Sarika endlessly waits for her Air Force husband to return from an unexpected rescue mission, she comes to know the harsh truth late in the night. She narrates to Maya, ‘Just as I leaned against the cushion and closed my eyes, I heard a car turning into our block. I looked at Mrs George with hope, but she looked rather anxious and unsure. “She got up and walked to the door.

“It was her husband, not mine! Col. George was at the door along with three other officers. The look on their faces was not reassuring. I nervously smiled at Col. George.

“Any news of Vikram?” I asked.

“Ma’am, I am very sorry … it is a fatal crash,” he said.

When Sarika narrates her story to Maya, the latter says, ‘You have so much pain and grief within you, but you also have so much love. Vikram gave you your best memories. Remember him like that and let his memories free you from the pain.’

For Maya, the dream of starting a cafe began when she was watching a movie at home, out of sheer boredom. She narrates in the book, “the story in the movie unfolded in a small quaint café run by a Parsi lady. The tables had on them more than a slice of cake a slice of life may be. Each table had a story brewing. Some interesting, some predictable, some boring, some inspiring and some beautiful! Amidst them, Maya found her own story.’’

“And almost instantly she wanted to own the place. She was hooked. She named it ‘Olive Beans’ a happy brew of her love for coffee and her man in olive greens. And a book was born.

There is a delicious and rather unusual portion to the book too lip smacking recipes of cakes! So worth trying out!

After Maya’s husband Sid retired, he got a plum job in the hills of Landour, Mussorie. Maya and Olive Beans followed him to there, thus relocating from Bengaluru.

Reeti’s friend and critic Kirtana has aptly written in the Foreword, “Like Maya, she is a connoisseur of quirky anecdotes and lasting memories. She has done a fantastic job of giving her collection of short stories a perfect narrative.’’