Breaking Fast In Post-Modern India

The role of breakfast in our daily routine cannot be overstated.

- Swarnendu Biswas

It is perhaps the most important of all meals; a hearty breakfast can greatly facilitate to give a good and cheerful start to the day. However, nowadays many in urban India have busy lifestyles, due to both husband and wife working across nuclear families; due to long working and commuting hours, etc. This gives them very less time to cook elaborate breakfast arrangements.

Influencing Trends Moreover, as the economy is growing, we see that lots of students, expats and single working professionals are coming to metros and other big cities of the country, in search of their career and aspirations. Many among them do not have the time or the skill or both to cook an elaborate and tasty breakfast.

At the same time, owing to the spread of television, Internet and a spate of lifestyle diseases, people in urban India these days have become more health conscious on an average; they do exercise, go to gym, and prefer to eat healthy, they prefer food which have less calories and more fibre. With the health consciousness and beauty consciousness being at an all time high in our society, there is a growing need not only for sumptuous breakfast but also for healthy breakfast options.

Then there is a considerable proportion of upwardly mobile young crowd in India, who, thanks to the growing impact of Internet, overseas travel, and television, have developed a global taste for food & beverages. Young executives working in professional organisations who are staying alone in big cities of post-modern India are one of the key market segments for the manufacturers of breakfast market in India.

Particularly, the young brigade of India is eager to try new food products, far away from traditional heavy and oily food. Their experimental nature and growing health consciousness are probably contributing towards the mushrooming of several sleek cafes across urban India; cafes which are also serving up as breakfast outlets.