My first proper purchase of the year was the January Edition of National Geographic (Are my consumerist tendencies showing by the act of giving such importance to a purchase?) that proclaims to know “Why we love Caffeine”.

And I have to admit it was the delicious-looking cup of coffee on the cover and the magic word Caffeine that prompted the purchase. More than that I am drinking (what can be considered to be a small shot) of cappuccino as I write this. If you’re thinking, “…an inclination for the dramatic?” I’d agree. Heck, if I had a song about coffee that I liked I’d be probably be listening to that instead of Teri mehfil mein qismat azmakar from Mughal e Azam. Digressions aside, I love my boosts of caffeine and I enjoyed the total of five sips of coffee I just had. The world seems to feel the same too. I wouldn’t have put my bet on it as the world’s most popular mood-altering and habit-forming drug, but that’s just because I don’t think of it as a drug. Oh, the deviousness of associations!

Though it expresses concern for heavy caffeine users it also attributes possible alleviation of pain, asthma symptoms, migraine headaches and jet lag to moderate amounts of caffeine. Actually, the article is quite balanced on its take on caffeine consumption. Its no doctor’s crusade against tea and coffee and no Starbucks (or rather Barista) campaign to present coffee as an elixir of life. It empathizes and understands our attachment with caffeine. Yet it throws up information (and pictures) that if you pay attention to will make you want to maybe cut down a little.

But the catch is that even as you (or I) drink in that article, or any similar one, your predilection towards your favourite caffeine delivery system probably won’t wear off. (Digressing, is this how chain-smokers react? With complete antipathy towards facts?) Unless you experience some of its attributed side effects, that is. Even then it is hard to let go. My dad did alter his caffeine pattern. He realized that the combination of tea and milk caused acidity, so he switched to liquor tea, dragging me with him. Not that it was involuntary; just that pouring out a cup whenever he made tea was too much of a habit, at the time, to break.

Which is my point! Whenever I have to sit down and concentrate on something (read: study) coffee sets the mood. It’s more the ritual, the going through the motions of consumption, than anything else. I used to leave cups untouched until I realized the effectiveness of one small (but hot) dose (sipped slowly). The presence of a hot steaming cup, with its characteristic smell, focuses my attention towards the task at hand. And when I was in the office, like everybody else, I depended on two cups of machine-spewed coffee a day. It wasn’t a taste explosion, but ‘twas better than nothing.

I declare myself as a low to medium caffeine user; I don’t have pills, energy drinks or even cold drinks and I’ll take my risk. I’m not forgoing my cup of coffee no matter what Jack James says. Would you?

In retrospect, I seem to be too attatched to this coffee business.