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Tomatina Festival banned in Bangalore ? Debate Guys

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umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Just apeing the movie Zindagi Na Milega Dobara the organisers proposed to have a huge festivity of Tomatino.  The organisers roped in more than 10,000 participants that too paid for.  It was even published through Facebook and event organisers were charging a bomb for a couple Rs 1500 Plus, Stags too had to pay the same amount.  Suddenly the event was cancelled with the intervention of political big wigs.  The organisers had chosen un edible and rotton tomatoes for the show.  They had approached the farmers who were flooded with excess crop of tomatoes.  Farmers were happy they got a good price rather than rotting and being discarded.  Now the issue is assuming that excess supplies were available does it necessarily have to be used for such festivity or it could have been donated to the poor or to organisation such as Aakshya patra who are feeding school children.  I was criticised for reviewing the movie ZNMD as good because it promoted Tomatina festivity.  Debate guys

Edited
Reason: title

Replies 1 to 15 of 15

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

this is India, politicians have a different worry. rivals can use any news in any manner. no one is gonna see if they were rotten or not, the culture too is very sophisticated. with valentine day even sabotaged may times.

i think a prudent move by politicians to nip in the bud.

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

I believe this festivity was stopped because if it catches on than it can create artificial shortage of tomatoes and price hike is inevitable.  Inflation index is linked to tomatoes unfortunately in IndiaSmile  Elections are won and lost on price of tomato, potato and onions

Pri
from Goa |

'ZNMD' was a good movie for reasons more than one...just because it showed a 'la tomatina' festival doesnt deem it 'evil'..if that was the case, all 'yash raj' and 'dharma production' movies should be criticised on the same grounds too because of the larger-than-life extravagance portrayed in them.

however that said, im strictly against the 'la tomatina' festival.if you check out the correct sources, it wasnt just the rotten tomatoes that were going to be used (nobody wants rotten tomatoes thrown at them, mindya), but the whole disrespectful attitude which triggered off the anti-tomatina response.

besides in a unequal society like ours, is it really fair on the part of responsible and furtunate citizens, to splurge in such reckless attitude?

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

well said pri,

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Pri, even if they use good tomatoes, the organisers would like to state that they using rotton or about to be spoilt tomatoes, nobody is going to check the veracity of their claim.  I definitely understand no individual would like to be splashed with rotton tomatoes.  The wiki article claims that acidity of tomato acts as disinfectant and it cleans the street.Smile

Pri
from Goa |

@ umesh---nothing personal, but your 'disinfectant' theory reminded me of the 'if you dont have bread, eat cake' story...lol

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

thanks for the cake and bread french revolution theory Pri.....Smile Mary Ant. was hung for this statement by the revolutionaries.

Pri
from Goa |

@ pramod---thankyou..im glad you agree.

check out my latest post (55 fiction---'extremes')..it pretty much sums up all i want to say on this topic :)

D Gowardhan
from Raigarh |

Politicians will not allow farmers to gain any way, instead they enjoy watching the farmers dumping their vegetables.

dont we waste water in holi

dont we burn away money in diwali ( i mean lots of money is spent for crackers)

I support you Umesh,

I think Festival is a Festival and it should be seen like a festival and enjoyed , here is a post about this Festival La Tomatino which is celebrated with ecstacy in Spain

Pri
from Goa |

@ umesh---heehee...i was hoping you'd remember (and hence the need to specify tht it was nothing personal) :P

Pri
from Goa |

@ the sorcerer and D Gowardhan---the la tomatina festival might support the farmers but does not support the other lower socio economic strata of society.

yes i agree, that it might support the farmer and not cause any harm but only if they are inedible..we can throw rotten tomatoes at everyone starting from the govt in that case :P

however if the concept is about using fresh tomatoes (as is practiced in spain, where the festival derives its origin), then it only means that the market price of tomatoes would be increased (you know the supply-demand theory dont you?) and if the market price increases, then the common man or people below poverty line would be deprived of some of the basis necessities of life---tomatoes in this case...and hence i am strongly against the usage of any festival which involves wastage of food.

I agree that all festivals should be celebrated in good spirit..but we got to make sure that there is enough reason for everyone to celebrate---that is what true spirit is all about :)

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

I only shudder the day when and if Tomatina fever catches up and it is declared a national holiday Lolz  Smile  Generally it is in the month of August.  

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

It is a party. Its a party where people pay for it. Money is obviously used to take care of the party costs- including the tomatoes. Those inedible tomatoes, which eventually gets disposed off anyways, is priced and used by the individuals. It is a party happening inside a place- not on a street. No1 is going to throw inedible tomatoes on innocent bystanders. If people don't want to go for it, they don't have to pay for it and participate it. Its as simple as that. Its a shabby copy of the tomatina festival because they do things differently.

I don't understand the part where you said "does not support the other lower socio economic strata of society". Its called as inedible tomatoes for a reason. Its being bought. Its not as if Mr. Kalmadi paid Rs. 500 per specially designed tomatoes which nourishes people's skin and makes them look at kareena kapoor (lol). If you're going to consider this as a waste, what about cosmetic, beauty and other manufacturers who use food to make a non-consumable product? hmm??? Prices high, prices low. Dear Lord- don't you just wanna be free of all that just for few hours and just have fun? According to how you're putting up things having colourful events, festivals, unlimited buffets and even college events is a waste. You shouldn't be so uptight. Its not as if its going to be done on a street with 10,000-20,000 people. Its going to be done on a ground, resort or stuff like that. You know that onion prices are increasing? You also should know that India has not stopped exporting onions. This is because its not the food that has gone expensive, but the resources (fuel) that is consumed to deliver the product from the farmer to the distributor-then-to-retail has increased tremendously. Stopping exports, stopping such events is not going to solve anything. Its not simply transport. You should first read and think why is the food cost increasing in the first place. If people are so worried about food wastage then first they should learn not to waste the food they are buying, for starters. Every restaurant, hotel, caterers, canteens, small food joints, juice centres, etc. waste food on a daily basis. 1 small toast sandwich and most of the restaurant here buries the entire sandwich under heaps of raw cabbage. Its obviously not consumed and hence its thrown away. Imagine club sandwich.

Sauvik
from Kolkata |

So confused sometimes about the crazy ideas that people have at times? What kept me wondering was(after I heard about the desi tomatina thing) what went wrong with the our good old Holi? We can rename it as  tomatina or woteva' so that it sounds 'spanish' ..lol.. Crazy guys we have in our country, and more than that I just feel that some smart-alec-guys are just trying make some cash by 'duping' people. 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the this festival, but why?? when we have something of our own? 

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

I believe it will be good idea to convert rotten tomatoes into pulp, and use it to splash around like holy, what effect the acidity of tomatoes cause on human body is yet to be researched, i hope it acts as a disinfectant Smile  I feel holi should be played with water which may be dampner for some

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

Holi is a festival of colors, it should remain like that. One can increase awareness of eating fresh tomatoes for health.

Pri
from Goa |

Firstly, i think that claiming to use 'inedible' tomatoes, is a weak defence put forth by the organisers of the festival.How much of that do u actually believe in?

ok lets give them the benefit of doubt..lets assume that each and every tomato used in the festival is an 'inedible' one (hah!).even then, who renders these unconsumable?? In a country like ours where there are slum dwellers raiding thrash cans in search of a morsel of rice, do you really think plump juicy tomotoes are even an expectation amongst them? If you only step out from your zone of comfort and pass a glance at the ugly truth, you will surely see what these people have to say about these so called 'inedible' tomatoes.

besides, tomatoes in some places are wasted either due to middle person tactics or lack of a proper storage infrastructure.With festivals like 'la tomatina'  sont you think we are providing incentive to farmers to go easy on this supply side mismatch, instead of encouraging them to take corrective measures regarding the same?

Now coming to the point of unnecessary waste of food in every restaurant/hotel kitchen/festival/wedding in india---i agree with you that we can not run about telling everyone to go low on the expenditure neither can we cut down our daily expenses altogether, just because we know that someone out there is not having the same luxury.somethings cannot be helped..but somethings like these, definitely CAN!

Its not about westernisation nor is it about adopting some festival which is not our own.Hell if spain celebrated some progressive festival, which would favour the progress of our country (apart from having fun, ofcourse) i would be all game for it.But my point here is, when we are aware that we already have a long list of festivals lined up in every state of our so called SHINING INDIA, (where needless to say, a lot of unnecessary expenditure/wastage happens anyway), why add to it by adopting some foregin festival as well? all in the name of fun and entertainment..bah! did the spanish (or any other western country for that matter) adopt our diwali or holi just because they find the bright splay of lights and colours, attractive? then why we?! can INDIA really afford this exorbitant attitude?

Lastly, the point in every debate where it bottoms down to 'the to each his own attitude' or in simple words 'if you dont like it, stay away' attitude.Well, all i got to say to this is--being a citizen of the country, each and every one of us has a right to voice our opinion about whats happening.and if doing that is taken as a 'protest' and feared by the organisers of the event---then i guess they are already suffering from a guilty conscience :)

The Sorcerer
from Mumbai |

The farmers deem it inedible. The sellers deem it inedible. Its a perishable item. Fruit and vegetables rot. Non veg smell. Signs of food not being edible is pretty visible- or atleast you can smell it. All I am saying it rather than throwing it away and incurring losses, its better to give it for something and charge a small price, this way price is minimized. I seriously doubt event management companies will get fresh tomatoes in a cheap cost. Rotten tomatoes is the cheapest you can get. At the end of the day, they're businessmen.

In any case, they're obviously paying for the tomatoes. Its no different from you going to a bhaji walla and buying. If you paid for something, you can do whatever you want to: donate it, cook it with it, let it rot- or do business with it.

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

I was wondering why not have Grapvine festival, where grapes could be stomped, anyways it is used for wine producing all over the world.  Maybe if it becomes popular wine consumption will come down Lolz.  More and more people will be aware of the process of wine making and start loathing the idea of drinking wine Smile

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

I think i will compliment you later, first let the compliments of pri be digested ,

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

Till then, I'll soak my mind in little drums of red wine, stomped by you can guess ?

Pri
from Goa |

@ umesh---hahaha...we got a genius in the house!!! :D

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

@ pri  thanks for your compliment and useful debate on the subject matter of Tomatina.  I only hope that any edible stuff should not be wasted in India.  Even the 5 star left overs most of the hotels are donating to Orphanage etc.  We can ill afford to have Tomatina festivity simple because it will lead from double dip inflation to L shaped inflation which is bad for Indian Economy.Smile

Mayur
from goa |

I was closely following the event. First the tomatoes were not rotten. The organisers exclusively cleared it on their facebook page, because no one would want to throw smelly rotten tomatoes on each other. They only said that they were inedible (What actually inedible means i have no idea. does it mean they don't taste good, or contain disease or something. Maybe somebody will clear what exactly inedible means).

The protest against it was not actually politically motivated. There was not even that much info about it on the web execpt on facebook.  Akshay kalra a activist started a online petition against i which got some 3k signs in some 4-5 days . Then he met the authorities who informed him that they did not have much info on the event. The protest got popular on facebook and news media started taking interest in it. I dont know whether any political party started protesting or anything after that. Due to its popularity. The karanataka Gov then assured that they will not allow the event to take place.

The event actually may not have had much physical damage as food wastage has always been a problem in india while storing and transporting. But the event would have had a psyhchological effect. People would start thinking it is ok to waste food for fun and pleasure like the senseless food fights shown in movies. In my family we actually have tradition where we eat whats in the plate wash hands in it and then actually drink the water. Mostly in all religion food has been given great respect and significance and the idea of throwing it for fun is unprocessable for me.

Spain where the festival originated has banned the festival in many of its regions. If spain a leading producer of tomatoes can ban it then i think people in india can avoid it too. Man just goto to some theme park or picnic instead of throwing tomatoes on each other.

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Mayur, i am surprised that event managers are ready to ape a movie theme which should have been left to imagination.  If at all guys want to really enjoy such an event, they can as well afford to go to spain and have a jolly good time.  The movie itself was tourism promo for visiting spain i suppose.Smile

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Visit spain to enjoy your Tomatino Guys Smile 

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

Alluring dude, very alluring. Lord Indra too must be there somewhere in disguise.

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

Of course the does it look like a ketch up or sauce.  Smile

RioZee
from Out of this yEt in this World |

God's gift