Maggi

Amongst many interesting conversations last week with A, we struck a divine chord over Maggi. Ubiquitous as it is for Indians ( I would like to emphasize this generalization), I barely doubt you have an Indian who doesn’t know Maggi or had never tasted it. A was apt to comment that you can’t possible take Maggi out of an Indian 😉

Maggi is all pervasive and in every household. You could eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It has been the savior of many of us when cooking was/is a daunting task. In fact that was the first thing I ever learnt to cook. You can find the comforting Maggi in overnight canteens over campuses across India, piping hot maggi served in tourist destinations of North India or in our homes. Each home has a distinctive way of making Maggi. None of them are wrong. Some are soupy, some are with vegetables, some are with plain Maggi and some made with the new found variants – wheat and multi-grain. So many variants and each is a representation of one’s personality. Hubby likes it with onions and capsicum along with other veggies and D loves hers with peas, corn and carrots! I like both variants and occasionally experiment with tomatoes in it. Some take it to extreme and make Maggi pakodas and all – tad extreme for my happiness, but I get it.

Couple of years ago when the whole Maggi fiasco happened and it was taken off the shelves, we were left devastated. An entire generation that was raised on Maggi and nothing happened to us! Poorly managed PR and major damage done to a well loved brand. Those were the dark days for fans like us. We subsisted on poor cousins and got through it. I shudder to think of it. We happened to travel to Melbourne during that time and to our utter delight found Maggi there. Could you believe our happiness 😉

My earliest recollection of it was plain Maggi without masala. Come to think of it now, I won’t like it at all now. Well, Maggi is also life, from non-masala to masala Maggi 🙂 As A summed it up, if she ever got a tattoo, it might just be “I Love Maggi”.