Maggi and Culinary skills of Cadets

 Taking off from where I left off last time on Immersion rods, while primarily immersion rods were used for heating of water, but its miniature version was used for heating water in a small tumbler for shaving. NDA cadets by nature are expert in 'jugaad', actually as a nation we resort to jugaad in every possible field. The rods were put to its most optimal utilisation since  warm water for shaving was a luxury which was for the bourgeois(rich), the cadets typically belonged to the proletariat(masses) adhering to the socialist-communist milieu of the times.  These miniature rods were the lifeline of the cadets as they provided the warm water for cooking up the 2 minute  "Maggi". Incidentally Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando of Nissin Foods in Japan. They were launched in 1958 under the brand name Chikin Ramen but introduced in India in 1983, by Nestle the year when we joined NDA, as though they were waiting for 70th Course all this while.  An NDA cadet is perpetually hungry and as they say "a hungry man is an  angry man" and the quickest way to satiate the pangs of hunger was the "Two minute wonder", which was actually gobbled up in less than the time it took to make it. The utensil could be an enameled mug                         or the mess tin, depending on availability and the number of cadets in the cabin at that moment. Maggi became synonymous with Instant Noodles, so much so that any other brand of Instant Noodles introduced in the market could not make much of a dent in their sales figures. It was and continues to be the lifeline for hostelers everywhere; of course tea coffee could also be brewed in quick time , but more often than not, there was never any dearth of tea, which was consumed in the very same enameled mugs. In fact even during Camps or Hikes, the Powdered milk which was issued was consumed straight without bothering to add water to it, it was instant energy(!). Tea which was served in the morning and evening was brewed in the squadron premises itself, to serve it real hot, quantity was more than adequate as every cadet got the mug full and some even managed a second one.

Culinary skills of cadets though were not restricted to Maggi or tea/coffee, Jats and desi ghee can never be parted, all of them carried carried cannisters full of ghee, which was consumed in any and every form, but quite often it was the traditional gourmet "halwa" whose aroma would fill the corridors leaving many of us salivating. Mind you possession of any heating appliances was forbidden in NDA, but forbidden Halwa is sweeter!! Some cadets would keep Heaters or Hot Plates with them, which would be put to good use on Sundays when some of us skipped lunch and savoured the halwa along with Maggi and some Bread from Gole Market.

We did not have the luxury of MRE(Meals Ready to Eat), the MTR type packaged foods, which today's youngsters rely on, whether in India or abroad. Notwithstanding, the taste of those Mess Tin full of Maggi is still fresh and unmatched.