I still love Maggi

The last few days have been very traumatic for me and scores of people like me. MAGGI was banned after a concentrated anti campaign by media, our health guardians - the ministers and the sudden influx of studies that show how harmful it is to eat Maggi. I was left shell shocked, that such a tasty lip smacking snack could be so dangerous that it was taken off the shelves in just a few days, my favourite yellow packet was no longer stacked in departmental stores and everybody around was trying to take the credit of saving us from this life threatening snack.

And here I was left wondering - How much lead do I have in my body due to eating Maggi?  Should I get myself tested ? Is my liver damaged? or Are there some problems with my nervous system? After all I have eaten this snack at home, up high in the chilly weather while trekking in mountains, in flights, in trains, at roadside vendors, had Maggi parties and so on...

Is Maggi even more harmful than Pan Masalas and bidis and cigarettes that are enjoying the flourishing sales at each nook and corner of the country by just displaying a non effective board - " Selling cigarette and tobacco to below a person 18years is a criminal offense". But then banning them was never supported, never even came into the preview of the money minded leaders - 

Then why did they attack my beloved Maggie?

We have read numerous reports of discos and pubs that serve alcohol to people under 25years in Delhi, which is a criminal offense and is supposed to be bad for the young body proven by studies conducted over years. Did they conduct such a study about ill affects of Maggi? If Not

- Then why did they defame my beloved Maggi?

Nestle became hoarse crying about the testing methods not being correct, but our country took it as a slight - O My god, you think we Indians are not competent enough? so let's get together to prove it. Would it have been so difficult to at least hear them out. Tomorrow if someone eats any Ready to Eat - packaged food raw and falls ill ...Will we ban all packaged food even though it was not consumed as per instructions? Are we becoming paranoid? Or will we do testing on the final product as Nestle is asking for? If not

- Then why did they ban my beloved Maggi?

P.S : I am not related to Nestle - but just an ardent lover of Maggi, like million other Indians who are, waiting for this hoopla to settle down so that I can again enjoy Maggi because I still love Maggi.

Dear Leaders, do ban Maggi if it is bad for health but do not apply double standards , please ban other harmful products also, if you care about the health of the people of India.

Words don't come to me...

 They jump around, leap and bound

I keep telling them, to hop a bit less,

Words don't come to me

My head is in a mess.

Now here, now there, no control anywhere,

These haywire thoughts are increasing my stress,

Words don't come to me

My head is in a mess.

Gone is the time, when with ease I could write,

Now even a line is a struggle, no matter how hard I press,

Words don't come to me

My head is in a mess.

What will become of me, filled with these half formed ideas,

Maybe I don't even want to guess,

Words don't come to me

My head is in a mess.

A topic abandoned , a line half written,

There drowns my dream, of becoming an authoress,

Words don't come to me

My head is in a mess.

Being uselessly busy...

To begin with, it feels great to write after such a long while. I have been busy a bit...and uselessly busy a lot. The last year was filled with experiences, many a times I promised myself that I would write about them but then I was busy, in fact got caught into the popular trend of being busy. Now when I look back I think, was I really that busy? Or was I just projecting that I was? What did I achieve by being so busy? I lost track of friends, have not bought a new book for a while, did not write, did not sit with relatives and laughed at past antics? Does this sound familiar to any one of you? 

So busy we have become with our lives, that when we think of calling friends, we stop because - ; "Why can't he/she call me?" or " She would think I have nothing to do" and we all can guess other stupid reasons we make. It gives us an unnecessary high to think we are too busy to be in touch with people around. Too busy to pursue a hobby? Is taking out ten minutes from our "so called" busy schedule so difficult for us? Maybe we are stuck in the vicious circle of our own making, first we let go of things because we are genuinely  a little busy, then we pretend to be busy, then we regret being busy(of course we won't accept it), then we become busy in thinking about the reasons of being busy. And this makes us feel so special and important.

When it rains, we don't stop and enjoy but crib about jams. When a friend calls we don’t chat but put across reasons for  not calling, when a relative calls we search for reasons to drop the call, for me when a book calls I have started looking for excuses not to pick it up(believe me I have done so). In the last few days I have thought a lot about this mess that I have created, I arrived at the conclusion that – “ I have been busy no doubt, but at times I have been uselessly busy” and it’s the time to stop this nonsense. It’s the time to give myself a chance to enjoy – “ Kya pata kal ho na ho” (I am a Shahrukh Khan fan, and won't apologise for being one).

So stop being busy, give life a chance. Enjoying it won’t make you small but a happier and healthier person.

P.S -  Don’t be uselessly busy , if you want to write a comment , do it.