Cafe Coffee Day

This is Café Coffee Day.

I have no idea how a joint like this got into Rishikesh, but it’s far too sleek and clean for India.  They play terrible pop music.  There’s even a flat screen on the wall where you can watch the incredibly choreographed dancing of the music video.  They’re constantly mopping here.  And pushing in chairs.  As you can see, the dude behind the counter has on a uniform.  They have a cash register and they’re selling coffee makers.  It’s a little too much like Starbucks and the spotless glass front door is really kind of freaking me out.  The whole place makes me uncomfortable.  Unfortunately it’s the only place in town with heat and a decent cup of coffee.  It’s so strange to sit in this glass bubble of Westernism and look out into Rishikesh.  Outside people pass by.  The normal Rishikesh street scene.  I can see into the little shop across the street selling shawls and little trinket-y things.

This is India.  The juxtaposition of old and new.  Spiritual and modern.  Bollywood and bathing in the Ganges.