In 2018, Amita Baviskar published an article in Gastronomica. Consumer Citizenship: Instant Noodles in India.

The mind-bending abstract starts with "Maggi", and goes on to ask, "And what does it tell us about taste and desire in a consumer economy in a deeply unequal society?" https://twitter.com/RajatSethi86/status/1253726578288271360

She says that "the success of global capitalism is not a foregone conclusion when it comes up against nationalistic politics."

Can it get any better? You betcha!

It is a form of "consumer citizenship", she continues, "as poor and low-caste people are discriminated against."

Is there more?

Instant noodles, for young people, "speak to their desire for agency and fun, challenging power relations in the patriarchal family."

All of this in the abstract. Did I say it was mind-bending?

Keywords: noodles, citizenship, youth, caste, India, nationalism

After going through the "Hindu-dominated cultural matrix" that governs food habits in India, and the unsurprising caste angle, she talks about "beef festivals" in JNU. Well, why not?

Of course, then 2014. BJP. Hindu supremacy. Brahminical. Vegetarianism. Cows. Muslims. BJP.

Enter Maggi, eating which creates new identities and dilutes stigmatized ones. "Atta Maggi," however, is an exception because it is for "upper class consumers".

It's not all capitalism, OK? In hierarchical societies, industrial products can help escape oppressive traditions.

And then there are the youth, for whom Maggi affirms their identity in households which were, hitherto, patriarchal. Good for them!

After which, the article ends with acknowledgements from Yale, National University Singapore, NYU, and Oxford, among others. So much for Maggi. /

So, if you think that her program on Maggi is a silly joke, it isn't. Well, superficially, it is, but given the noodly connections, there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Or the stomach.

In case you are interested in reading her paper, here it is. https://www.academia.edu/37515167/Baviskar_Gastronomica.pdf