TOMATOES STRUCK BHARAT (Lighter vein) By Lt Gen PG Kamath(Veteran)

TOMATOES STRUCK BHARAT

(Lighter vein)

By

Lt Gen PG Kamath(Veteran)?

The last month was one of the driest August for over half a century.? Farmers were desperate to provide water for the crops that had been sowed. Thanks to the network of irrigation facilities, we came through it battered but not broken.? However, a new calamity fell on the country.? People were dying on the streets with their tongues lolling out and their eyes popping out deprived of the red fruit masquerading as a vegetable; Tomatoes:? The prices of the vegetable; if someone is offended and intends to call it a fruit; no issues; had skyrocketed. We were used to seeing the humble overripe vegetable on the vendor’s cart when he was hard-pressed to sell it early; lest it will have to be disposed to restaurateurs at throw-away prices. For the latter, it is the best that money can buy as the pulpy paste has already undergone the first process of making a soup.?

Its prices usually fluctuated between ten rupees a Kilo, and in times of scarcity rose by four times; but what was happening now, was unprecedented: It rose by thirty times. People in shock were still looking out for it and buying in numbers rather than by weight; much like the ‘Dragon Fruit.’? Coming to the Dragon Fruit, I have again not surmised why people buy the stuff. At best it appears to be ‘halwa without sugar’ where a confused cook has put a dash of 'tadka' as I can clearly see that it is dotted with mustard seeds??

Back to Tomatoes; as far as I am concerned, if it was missing from my diet for the next six months neither would I have noticed it nor would have missed it? However, in India, the newspapers were screaming blue murder in their headlines asking to save our people from certain death.? If it had been missing for a month, China would have regained its top spot in the population.? How can we let go of the trophy earned having worked for it for several nights?? Jokes proliferated on social media where the guests for marriages took a couple of Tomatoes to the newlywed who gloated over it while receiving them.? VVIPs were being garlanded with tomatoes who carefully rolled and gave it to their bodyguards asking them to safely deposit them in their kitchens.? The red fruit ruled the roost. Some farmers who were looking at their tomato crop with indifference were soon rewarded with a bonanza which enabled them to tide over their previous losses.

Then, I consulted some culinary wizards who said that Tomato is an ambrosia while adding in Sambar and Rasam and giving it the divine pungency. However, they were contested by another school of culinary thought which said that tamarind or pomegranate seeds do the same trick and those who are dying for it need not do so and learn to live without it.? When the culinary debate raged the tomatoes slowly carried out a strategic withdrawal from recipes and menu cards. The salads also were served in their usual multi-colors; however, the red chili had quietly replaced the tomatoes.? It was not an uncommon sight in vegetable shops when housewives fondly looked at the tomatoes piled up neatly in a small basket right next to the cashier; lest someone accidentally or deliberately mixed the same with red capsicum.? It was also a topic for discussion among the housewives in their daily banter; one gloated; how she shouted down her husband when the latter had the temerity to ask; why the Rasam was tasting bland. She gloated that she revelled when he quietly retreated from the duel as soon as she harangued him to bring tomatoes on his way back from the office. She narrated with glee as to how the poor man ran out of the house without even taking his tiffin box; such was the power of wives sans tomatoes.

The government unable to see the plight of its citizens imported tomatoes from Nepal.?? India is the second largest producer of tomatoes in the world and it was unheard of that we had shortages. It was there for some unexplained reasons and people were yearning for tomatoes and wanted to review science school books to read; air, water, and tomatoes were essential for human life.

Two weeks passed, and the Tomatoes made their reappearance in markets and startled the public with the price falling to ?30 a kilo.? People were not dying anymore; China must be content in the runners-up position in population. The zing and tang reappeared in Sambar and Rasam. It was no more a topic for tête-à-tête among the housewives.? They were once again accountable for the blandness of cuisines. With dismay, they wistfully ruminate the days when Tomatoes Struck their lives and empowered them with one more weapon against their hapless husbands.?