Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda has ordered cancellation of ‘La Tomatina’ fest scheduled to be organized at Bangalore Palace Grounds on September 18 and also at Mysore. There is a huge cry on this in social media with people debating for and against the fest.
I am sad that this fest stays cancelled.
Its not because I cant throw tomatoes; throwing tomatoes is still not banned in India! There would always be a chunk of senseless people forming a group against anything that's happening, regardless of its impact - that's politics. But then, the educated youth? At least they should have the sense of understanding the effects and implications before crying out loud.
Yes, I agree that we are talking about wastage of Tomatoes (for the sake of a debate, lets forget the fact that the event was using tomatoes which were not edible).Alright, so all you humanitarians gather and cry peace. Help the poor, feed them and stop wastage. Noble indeed! The event stay cancelled. Now what? How many do I see feeding the poor? How many of you noble souls fed 1 poor today? I would really love to know.
The event stay cancelled. All the farmers who were expecting huge profits by selling off tons of market rejected tomatoes would not get the money promised. The tomatoes would still go waste, not in palace grounds though. Victory for the poor! In a country where food grain is stored by the government only to be disposed off as waste, at least tomatoes had to be saved. For those noble souls who doesn't read the news completely (as rightly suggested by my friend, Mr.Blunt) and react by reading only headlines - food wasted in FCI godowns in the last few years could have fed 2500 lakh + families for 10 years or more.Now do your best, google it and please read it completely this time.
I appeal to the representatives of Kolar district tomato growers, the few environmentalists and the NGOs who called on the Chief Minister in Bangalore on Friday to request cancellation of the La Tomatina festival to please distribute 60,000 kg tomatoes (the expected wastage as suggested by Jayanagar BJP ML B N Vijayakumar) among the poor and prove the passion and dedication they have towards their fellow beings. You owe at least that much to the farmers and the poor!
My sincere sympathy to the organizing committee of the fest and to all like minded souls in and around Bengaluru.
