The next best thing to Moms food

'Eat it with finely chopped raw onions on the side.. Thats how the vendor at the Suratkal beach serves it and its a major hit at the beach', said my friend. Something none of us ever tried, but we were an experimentive(???) lot. Ripped the skin out, and tak tak tak tak went the knife chopping down the onion into tiny lil pieces.. Tears rolling down our cheeks.. 'Make sure it does not go dry, add plenty of water and let it boil on and on till it becomes all gooey', said another dude from the bunch of hungry guys..

Amidst the chopping and chattering the thing was boiling away to what was to be its destiny - slither down our throats and enter our dark, cavernous tummies.. We were making it plain, no special effects, no greens and no sauces.. simple and plain; with of course the chopped onions as an accompaniment. The dish was ready just as requested, a lil sticky and piping hot.. Out came the plates, an assortment of unevenly shaped plates (The last one had to eat from the pan due to lack of plates).. The dish was served and raw onions added on top.. It was the moment of truth.. As the dish entered our mouths colors exploded, it was a divine feeling.. It was worth all the wait and the tears..

All this was some 2 years back. There have been numerous such sessions, night outs during the exams, over a movie, over a game of Uno.. This dish has been a constant companion through the hungriest of times.. Wasn't I ever bored of this dish? Not really, there have been so many variants to the dish, cook it with a bunch of boiled veggies or break an egg into the pan while the dish is boiling(making it even more gooey) or make some egg burji and spread it over the dish or add some tomato sauce to give it a bright new look..

And all it takes is 5 minutes to make this dish, though the advertisement says 'Bas do minute'. This phrase and 'Fast to cook, good to eat' is something every Indian telly viewer would know.. From the past 25 years these have been the punchline for Nestle Maggi. There have been a number of other instant noodles in the market, but none like Maggi, the unique flavor of the Maggi masala has never been recreated.. 'Sticky and gooey or dry, Maggi is the only thing I wanna try', MAGGI MAGGI MAGGI!!! Am eating Maggi as I write this eulogy ,the plain and sticky version....