Fast Food

Fast food

He arrived at his assigned spot in the market carrying a big bundle on a brass tray on his head and  a wicker stand under an arm. Then he  placed the wicker stand on the footpath and the brass tray on top of it.

 this brass plate he arranged an assortment of eatables. There  was a heap of fried corn too

I had been waiting for his spicy fried corns. He used to come in the afternoon and remain till shops closed .

He proceeded to attend to me. On a large leaf he placed half a cup  of fried whole corn and mixed it with a few masala powders and pastes . Then he squeezed a few drops of lemon over it and handed me this garlic flavoured concoction. It was inexpensive and quite tasty.

That was one of the fast foods of my childhood days. There was no maggi or burger or pizza then. Peanuts,  Roasted chana , puffed rice Laiya or fried or roasted desi pop corn called makki were popular with roadside venders. Some of them sold pani Puri (golgappas) too. 

Fast food joints, loaded with chemically treated food, have since cut into the livelihood of those poor venders. . . . . In the west too the traditional local food is getting threatened by the growing popularity of the likes of KFC and Mcdonalds.