This is what's replacing Maggi as a campus favourite

College life has no meaning without those mandatory hours spent in the canteens, gossipping and eating.

The recent campaign against Maggi noodles has meant that most canteens have now removed the once-favourite snack from their menus. To find out how students of Delhi University have coped, we visited some colleges and chatted with the students: “After each and every class, we visit the canteen and catch up with friends. Our countless gossipping sessions are incomplete without Maggi,” says Deepika Sood, a third-year English honours student at the College of Vocational Studies. So what are the renewed food choices of the students? Pastas and samosas are slowly turning out to be favourites, says Sood, adding, “Wai Wai or Top Ramen have yet to rise up the popularity lists.

Tarushi Kukreja, Sood’s batchmate quickly also quickly speaks up: “Maggi lovers will fall for samosas as our canteen can dish up nothing better.”

Many students swore by Maggi as it was easy to cook. “Almost ­everyone in the hostel used to have Maggi packets in their cupboards, which have been replaced by Wai Wai and Sunfeast noodles. Apart from that, chhole bhature and samosas are delicious low budget treats. Canteen noodles are also hard to resist, says Shreya Saras, a first-year BSc (hons) home science student at Lady Irwin College.

For Lizelle A Fernandes, Maggi was not an option though. “Our campus food joint has all through been more popular for pizza breads and pasta even when Maggi was available in the market,” says the BA economics (hons) student at Miranda House.

There are also many students who are not in mourning for the ‘two-minute’ noodles. “The greatest dishes in our canteen were spring rolls and chowmein. Maggi and chowmein were priced almost same but we got larger portions of chowmein. Chhole bhature, too, are favourites here,” says Sanyam Jain, a BCom hons student at Hansraj College.