Humble treat

I was six years old. We were watching television. I don't remember what we had been watching but while watching it there was a commercial break. During that break there was a colourful, energetic, and vibrant advertisement. That advertisement showed that two children a boy and a girl younger than 10 years of age were sitting in the kitchen. They told their mother that they were hungry. Their mother prepared something tasty and served them. The children happily indulge in it. The advertisement ended with "Maggi, Maggi, Maggi".

I was completely hooked. As a young child I was curious about what it was. My elder sister too had been watching that advertisement. She also was curious. Both of us told our mother that we wanted to try it. My mom said what every Indian mother says. It would not taste good. It would not be good for health. It would be too expensive. We should not buy everything that we see on TV. I was disappointed but I really wanted to try it.

Sometimes the luck is in our favor. A couple of days later somehow my dad got free samples of Maggi. I was delighted because I was going to have the product that I was so curious about. When our mother made it be realised that most of what my mother had said about it was not true. Because the noodles were delicious. They were not even expensive because a pack of noodles was sold for rupees 5. It had the quantity that would have been sufficient for both me and my sister. Probably it would not have been good for health but we were not having it every day. I felt that having those noodles was a win.

I was I really happy to have tested Maggi noodles. Next day in my school I told my friends that I tried maggi noodles and I loved them. All my friends had laughed at me because they had tried them several days ago. They had been regularly having Maggi. Of course that did not bother me because all I wanted was to try Maggi noodles.

When I was in college they became a part of my routine. I would come home from college at odd hours. At that time I would prefer having Maggi instead of anything else. I used to have Maggi at least once in a week during my college years. Having Maggi felt like I was in a company with a trusted friend. Maggi always felt comforting even when the time was stressful. Having Maggi felt like a hug from someone who had been understanding me.

Years passed and my consumption of Maggi kept reducing. But I kept having Maggi once in a while. But even today when I have Maggi I remember everything. I remember my 6 year old self requesting Maggi from my mother. I remember this stressful college days and how maggi had been relieving my stress. I feel a strange sense of nostalgia while having Maggi. Even a single bite of Maggi brings back all those memories.

Now for me Maggi is not a food, it is an emotion. It is a ticket to relieving the good old memories.