Balaji Mandir, a temple in Pashan, Pune, India

Chilkur Balaji Temple, a temple of Lord Balaji near Hyderabad, India

Mehandipur Balaji Temple, a temple of Hanuman in Rajasthan, India
Nerul Balaji Temple, Maharashtra, a temple of Balaji in Maharashtra, India
Punrasar Balaji, a temple of Hanuman in Rajasthan, India
Salasar Balaji, a temple of Hanuman in Rajasthan, India
Unao, Balaji, a temple in Madhya Pradesh, India
Shreebalajimandir, a temple in Mumbai, kandivali, Charkop, India
A RANGE of responses emerged across social media in the last week of May when Ma
ggi,
the popular brand of instant noodles, was confirmed to contain impermissible li
mits
of the poisonous metal lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG). A large number of pe
ople,
born in the 1980s, felt betrayed by their favourite brand of noodles, which the
y had b
een cooking in two minutes ever since it appeared in the Indian market in 1983.
They swore that th
ey would never ever touch Maggi again and some even posted photographs of their
monthly stock of the noodles dumped in waste bins. A few, who probably cannot co
ok to save their lives and perhaps the most affected, remained reticent. They su
ggested that most of the food products in the market, if tested, would be found
to have contaminants.

Both groups, vocal about the issue, seemed to love Maggi. Indeed, Maggi products
, one of the few pop
ular pre-liberalisation food items, have acquired a cult status in India. It is
the popularity of the pr
oduct that is respon