IT'S PERHAPS, the most basic and easiest to pronounce word in the English dictionary. Made up of four letters, ‘food’, in a way, defines what most of us homo sapiens slog all day and all our lives for. This very essential commodity has witnessed the most interesting transformation over the last few decades. From the days when a couple of chapattis with an onion was sustenance to the present times when an entire section in the departmental store is devoted to breads alone, we have certainly come a very long way in satiating our gastronomical requirements. It is not too difficult to see how the spectrum of food (both, home-made as well as the ready-to-eat) has grown over the last few years. A simple comparison between the diets of people of our parents’ generation and those of ours is enough to demonstrate how eating patterns have evolved over the years.

There was a time when meals meant having a couple of rotis with a handful of rice, supplemented by a curry and probably also some pickle and papads. The concept of eating out meant moderate changes in the daily menu such as an extra sweet dish. Restaurants were meant for ‘big’ moments such as marriages or engagements and coffee hangouts didn't exist. As years passed by, consumerism became the ‘in’ thing and eateries of all kinds grew, aided adequately by the spurt in nuclear families and working women. Today, we have something to suit the taste buds of practically every kind of consumer, from mocktail bars to barbecue joints, from hukka parlours to parantha houses.

While ‘kheer’ used to be a good treat once, pizza is today's staple. To quote from my own experience, the day my brother comes home with a decent result in school, he demands pizza or pasta as a reward, and compliments it with a Pepsi or Coke which he glugs down with equal delight. Tea breaks have changed to coffee breaks and words like mocha and cappuccino have found a permanent place in the average teenager’s dictionary. Coming home late from work, it isn’t re-heated rotis or humble khakhras anymore, with two-minute noodles attaining cult status in urban India. And the latest to join the bandwagon are ‘Ready to eat’ products, and incredible though it may sound, even vegetable curries are now available as ready-to-eat.

The food revolution has another facet to it: foreign-made foods and concepts are steadily making their way into the country. A decade ago, things like Hershey’s chocolate sauce or flavoured mayonnaise were unheard of. Today, without these items, an average uptown schoolgoer’s meal is incomplete. We’re so used to words like oregano, soya sauce and mozzarella cheese that they do not even sound uncommon. Twenty years ago, our grandparents would have drawn a blank. Technological innovation has made all this possible. A couple of decades ago, our mothers spent excruciating hours in the kitchen whenever it came to grating coconuts or extracting fruit juice. Today, blenders, microwave ovens and food processors have reduced physical strain to a minimum. Food is whipped up in a jiffy and takes less time and effort to prepare. Such is the impact of technology in the food market that you now get special recipe books showing the microwave method of preparing those dishes that your mother and grandmother painstakingly cooked by hand.

In all this, the ultimate beneficiary is definitely the consumer, for they now have access to a wider variety of food prepared with half the amount of effort and time. However, these fast foods also destroy the body’s natural capacity to cope with illnesses, among other things. We may benefit from the ‘two-minuteness’ of contemporary foods but do let’s remember that we must ensure we do not abuse the body with wrong kinds of food.