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.