Maggi Maggi Maggi!!!

That fortunate day, as I cut open a small pouch and dropped the contents into the boiling water, the same old pleasingly familiar aroma filled my kitchen...Yes! She is Back..and she brought back my past, too!!! I had been mourning while witnessing Maggi's court-martial. Like an old friend was penalized in an unfair manner. Having consumed umpteen numbers of Maggi packets, I seemed to have not fallen prey to cancer at least till date. I recollected all those packets...and all those meals. It took me back in space and time. Those bygone eras of running free with wind in my hair and my world curbed in my own hands. Who had time or interest to cook an elaborate meal then? The body was in pink of health thanks to the youth and the mind of full with ideas without much attention to the appetite. Maggi served the purpose spot on! It felt 100 times better than the stale frozen stuff. You can simply pop in few chunks of veggies and your steaming, mouth-watering dinner is in front of you within minutes. After a tiring day, it was no less than a treat! What more would a doe of stag need? Can't forget the taste of Maggi on the mountain tops..when you have climbed your a** out, your feet feel non-existent, your spine is wrecked, and your flesh is shivering due to the icy cold weather...the soupy bowl of Maggi comes forth then you just devour it, relishing every drop of its juice..while wiping the water through your nose, hogging onto your next morsel... Sometimes even eating more than 2-3 bowls at a time. Maggi was always a n+1^th girl on a girl's night out witnessing all the gossips, giggles and mischief. Ask any regular trekker, or a hostelite or a lone-dweller, or a bunch of girls who have had a slumber party...none of these zillion people would have lived without eating Maggi...I can bet my life on this. Maggi was not just a comfort food...it was a savior! Just like omlette, everyone likes their maggi "my way"! Maggi has an aura of memories of many of us which cannot be wiped off by a court order! The whole lot of turmoil created against Maggi in the recent past was clearly out of vested interests of certain stakeholders. Else in India, seriously, who cares? Have you checked the oils our regular hotels use? Do we have ANY quality control over the roadside kiosks selling food to millions and millions of people daily? Do you ensure hygiene practices in 5 star hotels's kitchen even? What about other ready-to-eat foods then? Have they been tested clear of any harmful preservatives? Why do we have drugs in the market available off the shelf when the rest of the world have banned it? This list can get endless as the matter of the fact is that in India, the food laws have NOT been strict. They never were and perhaps they never will coz we are not law abiding folks...we are law breaking one's! In no way I am justifying injurious-to-health-and-environment products or practices. All I am trying to understand that why one small little specific item was targeted to an extent that it created national news and such an impact across our nation? Even a half-wit like me can infer an underlying conspiracy. Maggi is undoubtedly the queen of comfort food and has been victoriously ruling its territory for over three generations now! How on earth would they have sold other noodles to suit Indian taste buds? "This" was their only way! So then after certain "transactions" must have taken place, Maggi is back in market. Thankfully they have not altered much anything. The taste, the flavors, the packaging...pretty much same as the old times..like two friends meet after burying the hatchet. I am no exception. I jumped on the first opportunity I got to enjoy meri maggi...pyari maggi. It cut my age by 5 years I feel! Long live Maggi!