Questioning today’s MII trends

The title ‘middle class trends’ came to mind but then saying middle class or lower class may get me into trouble just as the author of cattle class had to twitter-ly apologise, explain and ‘press’ his point. Using the word income seemed safer. So you have LII, MII and HII; lower income Indians, middle income Indians and higher income Indians(note the plural).
Just as India’s majority consists of MII, we have a large number of trendy topics to choose from, discuss and dissect.
Beginning with food….
The ubiquitous dhaba of North india have sprung up even in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There is also the culture of ‘food on wheels’ all over India dishing out regional and other common food. Will KFC promoting its nuggets nudge out these places which have only ‘word of mouth’ as their marketing strategy? Will MII prefer the sterile tables with uniformed men to a cluttered and careless atmosphere?
Next on the list are not very new brands. Nobody ever remembers this was originally an Italian dish. It has spawned desi versions but will MII still prefer Pizza Hut and Dominoes? Will their melt in the mouth ads encourage all to bite into something that every Indian pronounces differently, even on Diwali and Holi? The double z sure is confusing just a ‘zh’ as in Kozhikode is for a north Indian.
A bar of Chocolate was an item on the monthly grocers list about six or seven years ago before off the rack shopping became an in thing. Will MII fall for the promotion of our old friend ‘Cadburys’ to distribute exotic and elite chocolates on auspicious occasions? Will they replace Bharati pedas and burfis?
Liquids have had a troubled past, especially the controversial colas. They have dodged the likes of George Fernandes and cases for water depletion. Still they have our superstars drinking out of their hands. Will the aam aadmi still ignore an old ad about these being good toilet cleaners?
Are all of the above on a drive to compete with America whose statistics show 30-40% obese adults with the utmost cooperation of the MII population? Will MII succumb to the day in and day out fizz washing of their brains? Will threats that all the local stuff like ghee, coconut oil, samosas, parathas and the twisted jilebis are untouchable be taken seriously and surge imports of olive oil and oregano? Will pies and pastas replace dhoklas and dosas or will confused MII throw in the towel and head to the nearest joint, desi or otherwise ?
Be it LII,MII or HII, all have broken the night’s fast in the morning from time immemorial, many with idlis, dosas, some with rice and others with paranthas or delicious puris. Then comes along great inventions like Kellogg’s and other brands which teaches us that breakfast is a must with cornflakes, oats and drinking orange juice is the healthiest alternative. Every Indian with money to spare loves new things, beautifully packaged and with atrocious prices. In the long run, will the flaky corn rule over the tedious dosas?
The menu has many more items to choose from but, I’ll stop by saying that we have always prided ourselves on being a blend of cultures and so we have our local hotels serving pizza as well as bonda. One last question, will trendy MII prefer a branded lime juice to Amul’s buttermilk?