What's with the big deal around La Tomatina festival in India? I've been hearing all the people are protesting against the La Tomatina festival planned in various cities across India. Eventually, the event got cancelled as well! Their logic? It's a sheer wastage of food.
Well, is it? Really? And even if we agree it's a wastage of food, does that necessarily mean it's a bad thing? Let me reason why I feel all the hypocrisy around cancelling La Tomatina in India is absolutely unjustified!
Wastage of food- India can't afford it: Is it really a wastage of food? I don't think so! According to reports, the Bangalore edition would have required about 62,000 kg of tomatoes. Now, do you just take 62,000 kg of tomatoes off the market in one day & deprive people from eating tomatoes??!!! Hell no! Obviously these tomatoes are specially ordered and grown exclusively for this event. Just imagine how the economy would have benefited had the event gone ahead. Poor farmers would have gained a lot from the sales of these tomatoes and so would have a hundred other poor people involved directly or indirectly with this event. And no one, actually, no one would have lost anything! Tell me, does people in India die from hunger due to lack of availability of the food or simply due to that fact that they can't afford it? I think all of us know the answer!
So I would really like to know what is the hypocrisy all about protesting against La Tomatina in India? Is it merely due to the fact that we like to protest against anything and everything? Is it because it's a Western concept and we're protesting against it like we do against Valentine's Day? So don't give me the crap of wastage of food!! But I would love to hear some solid reasons from the protesters. :)
kk..lets put it this way..suppose there was a young boy begging outside or fishing around the complex where people were supposed to hurl tomatoes at each other for sheer fun (I guess that's the prime motive,ryt?)..and lets say one person out of that "fun" group came out and give that boy a cup of tomato soup to drink ..and now lets consider the scenario where 62k kg of tomato implies roundabout 1.4 lakh tomatoes (say 1kg = 10-11 tomatoes) which meant if 1 cup of tomato soup even uses 5 tomatoes (wow!)then there is a real chance of making 28k something cups of tomato soup. Now even if half of that amount materializes,we are talking of giving a glass of tomato soup to 10k hungry misfortunate people where fun is a no-word.
ReplyDeleteThe issue for me is the ethic, and the real purpose of it!Our society isn't grandeur enough to allow such frivolous activity, and I would day in day out go out and be the person that gave the boy that soup than the fun loving paranoid. Given the disparity that heterogenizes our society,at least we can let go insensibilties !
why are we celebrating a Spanish festival? To foster bilateral relations with Spain?
ReplyDeleteAns: Definitely not.The whole idea of the Tomatina festival has been popularised by the movie 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara'.
this is the answer to 'Why this festival in India?' by organisers for La Tomatina festival Bangalore.
few decided to do their own version in India. First it was tried in Delhi and it was cancelled due to similar protests.
While Spain, being a developed country, hosts this festival in only one city once a year because of cultural reasons and historical association. India, being a developing economy,
will have one in every city because we believe in our rights that come with money?
Millions of children in India suffer from malnutrition. According to India State Hunger Index (ISHI), Karnataka is one of the 12 states that come under the alarming hunger index.
Misappropriation and mismanagement of resources have led to numerous socio-economic problem in our country. Do we need to blame our govt. all the time?
Just because there is an uneven distribution of wealth among indians, should rich indians start copying the culture,tradition and fashionable activities of wealthy and developed nation for mere fun?
"it's a wastage of food, does that necessarily mean it's a bad thing?"
ReplyDeletego and ask someone who struggle throughout the day only for a single meal.
"Obviously these tomatoes are specially ordered and grown exclusively for this event. Just imagine how the economy would have benefited had the event gone ahead"
the economy would have benefited if these tomatoes would have come to market where it is valued in actual sense.
suppose we start a festival where we would be burning papers in tons and tons especially ordered for this, does it mean it would have
benefitted the economy. "A economy is benefitted when a resource is put to use it is made for"
"we like to protest against anything and everything?"
why dont we protest when an NGO works for the sake of needy children or poor etc?
protest is only done whenever it seems to benefitt the society in one or other way.
"wastage can only be talked about after we achieve self sufficiency. before that it is both legally and morally wrong"
@Arnab & Debashish: Had there been no Tomatina, these 62,000 kg tomatoes would have been never produced! So, without this festival, nobody would have gained anything. That's my point. The festival does not mean taking out 62,000 kg tomatoes off the market. It means production of extra 62,000 kg tomatoes and boosting the economy!!!
ReplyDeleteI would gladly love that if the 62k tomatoes produced by farmers (giving them their share of the pie)is utilized for better purposes by the sponsors of the event (than just throwing them around) ! I guess its a win-win situation then,isn't it? :)
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely!! :)
ReplyDelete