February 19, 2025 | Awake & Dreaming

Monaco biscuits have been a staple of Indian households for a very long time. Salted biscuits or crackers as you may call them, they are marketed as a tea / coffee time snack. The Monaco biscuit is a small, flat-baked, salty biscuit, manufactured and marketed by Parle Foods. A light and crispy biscuit sprinkled with salt. Launched in 1939, Monaco pioneered the salted cracker category and is truly an anytime brand.

I think I first became aware of this biscuit in late 1988 when I saw ads of it on tv. A few weeks later would have been the first time that I bought a packet while my family was on a grocery store run and added one to the cart. I initially used to feel that they were a bit too salty but they did remind me of a similar tasting biscuit that we used to have in Kuwait. I probably didn’t buy another one for a long time. I instead went to other biscuits.

When I was around 21 or 22 I used to go, 3 times a week to Kottayam with my dad and accompany him when he went to his business office. Since we left at 6 am, I would also carry some lunch with me (and he would get rice & curry at the office). Mom would make Maggi noodles for me and put it in a thermos to which I would add a bottle of water and a packet of biscuits. One of them would be Monaco and I started like it a lot more. They are now a staple in my household.

No, email is not dying out despite the rise of newer communication platforms, it remains a widely used and essential tool for business and personal communication, with the number of emails sent daily continuing to grow, so it’s considered far from dead. I think the corporate world lives and dies on email and email communication, sharing of files and documents and with work it can show you evidence via a trail mail.

However, it’s important to note that:

Evolution of usage:

While email is not dying, its role might be changing as newer tools like instant messaging and collaboration platforms become more popular for real-time communication.
Spam concerns:

The influx of spam emails can sometimes make it difficult to find important messages.
Generational differences:

Younger generations might prefer alternative communication methods over email.

When I check my gmail id, it;s 98% garbage and usually only a handful of emails in a week that I actually bother to check and read. I I remember when emails first came out and getting an email from a friend or relative was a big deal. Also getting emails from the friends you made online was a cause for celebration. Now, it’s the equivalent of the permanent ugly duckling.