Why buy food online or rummage through heaps of precooked and ready to dine/ ready to eat food packets when making a simple meal at home (with whatever little ingredients you can lay your hands on) is more fair and nutritious, and a lot more satisfying? Why does the new generation like it so much and why the present day mummies, aunties and nanis don’t mind laying the dinner table with a generous dose of the above when the posterity will appreciate preparations that are made at home even more? I mean, why would somebody not trust his or her own instincts, experience and wisdom, and go on to finding respite in something that is no more than a quick meal alternative and has nothing more to offer? I wonder.

I used to dwell on these things often and tell myself I will never take something as trivial as a ready to eat meal to be the saving grace of my day. Seeing advertisements on the newspaper and on the internet I never stopped thinking why people were so obsessed with these fancy symbols of consumerism. Until the day when my mother got hospitalized and my life became far from normal. My world was turned upside down and I was left with a lot on my platter; more than I could handle.

Going to the market, getting rations and cooking them at home was out of the question and most of my time was spent in the hospital. And I didn't even have anybody who could do things on my behalf. Coming back home to an empty fridge wasn't pleasant either. It was only then when it dawned on me I could buy food online and that it’d come in handy in the emergency situation. I realized the advantages of ready to eat foods went beyond my perception of it. Not only was it useful for spinsters, bachelors, people staying in hostels and homemakers trying to sidetrack the monotony of the usual meals but also for people who were caught in a situation that was quite ugly and unfortunate. People with working spouses, NRIs wanting to get a taste of their roots, foreigners trying to explore a new cuisine and people who couldn't cook for nuts would all find it extremely convenient I concluded.

So that is how I learnt to appreciate the usefulness of ready to eat foods and started keeping a couple of them in the kitchen cabinet to bail us out in times of crisis.

Today, almost everything is available on the internet and people are actually making use of it as it is easy, convenient and cost effective in a number of ways. From clothes, shoes, bags, books, perfumes, car accessories to furniture, dinnerware, gadgets, etc., you name it and you’ve got it all. And to cash in on this craze, manufacturers are laying on the platter their best fare to lure the buyer.

So when it comes to food, it is but natural to find that a variety of dishes and dessert menu are available online, too. This new era of ready to eat meals, packed food stuff bearing the authentic taste of the Indian cuisine are flooding the markets and a growing number of consumers aren’t hesitating to buy food online and get it home delivered whatever be the reason or occasion.

A fast lifestyle, bane or a boon :

•  One of the dominating reasons behind the popularity of these ready to eat meals, curry powders, desserts, fruit preserves and chutneys of the Indian cuisine, and the concept of buying online food in India, lies in the present generation’s fast emerging lifestyle.

•  Time has become a rare luxury nowadays. The modern man has too many things on his platter and his mind crammed up with a world of issues.

•  His lifestyle is leaving him with very little time in his hands at the end of the day and he is busy finding quick fix solutions for most of his problems. He is therefore resorting to ideas and options that are fast and less time consuming and finding it convenient to shop for ready to eat meals, curry powders, desserts, fruit preserves, chutneys and other facets of the Indian cuisine online.

Another reason for the boom in buying food online is the easy accessibility of these products :

•  In order to get a huge list of products like curry powders, desserts, fruit preserves, chutneys, ready to eat meals, etc. he does not have to even step out of the house or worry about how to carry the entire lot together, all over the country, thanks to the online stores (most of which deliver the foodstuffs wherever you want them to).

•  To get started, he simply needs to scourge through the Indian cuisine / ready to eat meals/ dessert menu, take his pick, add to the shopping cart and pay on delivery.

•  So whenever he is confronted with the situation of gifting or wanting to escape from the usual meals at home, he is getting more inclined to making use of the digital revolution. He is browsing the menu and shopping for ready to eat meals, curry powders, desserts, fruit preserves and chutneys online.

In fact, an increasing number of people are using these ready to eat meals, curry powders, desserts, fruit preserves and chutneys for gifting on various occasions because these highlight the best of Indian cuisine.

•  Be it festivals like Christmas, Diwali, Durga Puja, Bhai duj, Rakhi, etc. or occasions like New Year, birthday, anniversary and Valentine’s day, various renditions of the Indian cuisine are being exchanged as gifts.

•  Moreover, many people strongly believe ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’. So these products come along with a feel good factor for the buyer as well as the recipient.

•  Also, if one is to consider a quick meal alternative or entertain a bunch of hungry friends/ handful of unexpected guests, these ready to eat meals/ gift food ideas in the form of curry powders, desserts, fruit preserves and chutneys serve as a great option and let you savour the diversity of Indian food cuisine.

These ready to eat meals are simple and hassle free and available without the addition of harmful chemicals, preservatives or artificial coloring agents. So they are good for children, the elderly and for people who are particularly very conscious about their health. Besides, not only are they healthy and bear true reflections of the legacy of Indian cuisine but also attractively packaged to make its way into the heart of the quintessential buyer. And that is not all. Affordability and reasonably fair price tags act as incentives for the buyer and lure him into buying more and more.