Dimapur, Dec 4 (MExN): The rich whiff of rich coffee…Arabica, mocha delight…greets you as you step inside Dream Café. Young Nagas, as well as international and domestic tourists, huddle in threes and fours inside chatting and sipping hot coffee to beat Kohima’s famous chill. And in the midst of all these, a big tall Belgian man, busy making pancakes and stirring coffee. He is none other than Guy Baeyens.
Guy is not new to Nagaland – his wife Dingti is from Kohima. Guy and his wife made Chennai their home, where he is involved in business as well as Indo-Belgian art and cultural activities. His first visit to the land of the warrior race was 2 years ago, where he met Theja Meru, Director of Dream Café, and thus the dream to host a Belgian Coffee festival began. “I wanted to give something back to the Naga people”, Guy said at the opening function of the coffee fest, which was attended by Grammy Award winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the warm and affable Nagaland University chief Professor K Kannan, as well as friends and well-wishers of Dream Café.
Guy indeed gives back to the Naga people. Described by Belgian Consul-General Herman Merckx as one of the ‘best Belgians living in India,’ Guy arrived in Nagaland a week ago, with 125 kilos of luggage (Indian Airlines permit only 15 kgs on it’s ATR flights!) consisting of coffee, biscuits, pancake mixes, artworks, posters, Belgian flags, books, DJ machine…et al and the last 3 days, he’d been busy setting up a makeshift kitchen at Dream café. There in his creative cave, Guy has been churning out an array of apple and raisin, chocolate and brown sugar pancakes and of course, good old Belgian coffee for everyone stepping into the café to beat Kohima’s chill. And everybody is delighted, and touched – delighted, because “we have not had anything like this ever” and touched, by the open-handed gesture of this big hearted and humble Belgian who has come all the way from his home country to serve young Naga people cups of coffee and apple-raisin pancakes, without asking anything back in return.
Drop into Dream Café. The fest will continue till the 7th of December. Get a taste of Belgian coffee, and do say a little word of thanks to Guy. You won’t find it hard to spot him. He is the quiet gentleman standing by the fire cooking pancakes and teasing you with, yes, rich Belgian coffee – just for you.
