VERVEMAGAZINE.IN 81The trio visibly perk up when we walk next door to Café by Di Bella, where Rai can
finally get her fix of coffee, and Vihaan and Shivansh are free to gorge on waffles. Her
reason for selecting this particular coffee shop is two-fold — it’s a stone’s throw away
from her apartment, so she can easily conduct business meetings here, and a gift-card,
courtesy of a close friend, allows her to get a free cup of coffee every day. The kids
shoot me irritable looks while their mother is talking to me, and Rai chastises them. She’s
in the process of informing me that the shoot has coincided with their nap time, when
the waffles arrive. All traces of sleep vanish from Vihaan and Shivansh’s eyes as they get
down to business, practically inhaling their first chocolate-filled bites. Their little bodies
infused with the kind of vigour that can only come from consuming too much sugar too
fast, the boys all but drag their mother out the door, eager to move on.
3.30 P.M. CAFÉ BY DI BELLA