Tomato tamasha

TRENDS It is not just fashion and language that is inspired by cinema. Zindagi Na Mile Dobara has inspired a love for all things Spanish, including the La Tomatina festival, writes NEETI SARKAR

September 14, 2011 07:43 pm | Updated 07:47 pm IST

From Zindagi na milegi dobara

From Zindagi na milegi dobara

For the longest time we've known that film and fashion have been best buddies and the time gap between screen and street has been rather negligible. But now, films have found a new way to stir up and influence the masses.

While almost all of us enjoyed Zoya Akhtar's “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” (ZNMD) it hasn't taken much time for people to want to imitate what they saw onscreen, which is how the Spanish tradition, La Tomatina, is making its way to the city.

According to Manish Dev, who works with a market research firm, “Pop culture, highly influenced by mass media, impacts the everyday lives of people faster than any other phenomenon can and the La Tomatina festival is just one example. It does not have to do with film fashion or trends alone; it could even have to do with props! When ‘3 Idiots' became a box office hit, malls, book stores and even corporate organisations installed the infamous chairs seen in the song ‘Aal Izz Well'. Introducing La Tomatina in Bangalore was just bound to happen.”

The Spanish festival which is held in the last week of August and has participants throw tomatoes at each other for sport, is being replicated here this weekend, and the borrowed idea has grabbed eyeballs from fans and critics alike.

Madhushree R, a collegian opines: “The festival seems like it's going to be a riot of fun. I loved what I saw in ZNMD and which fun-loving person wouldn't want to indulge in something like that? The idea has appealed not just to us youngsters but also to many of the older folks. So people who have a problem with us having fun should just enjoy their Sunday at home.”

There is an overwhelmingly large group of people who are against the massive wastage of food. “In a country where food shortage is an issue we are yet to deal with effectively, and where people die of starvation, hurling tomatoes at each other for fun is an insensitive and inhuman thing to do,” says Neelam Philip, an NGO volunteer.

While it has been reported that the tomatoes being used are unfit for consumption and are coming from Kolar where farmers supposedly throw their produce on the streets to rot, protestors like Anju Sait, a corporate employee says: “There are better ways to deal with the glut of unusable tomatoes than by wasting an entire day soaking in red goop. Apart from hurting the sentiments of people who don't know that the tomatoes can't be consumed, we're also teaching our kids that it's okay to waste food for fun.”

Posing an obstacle for the organizers and participants is the online petition, No La Tomatina, signed by Bangaloreans who are protesting the festival.

In a country that the World Bank estimates ranks second in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition, indignant citizens believe it takes more than insensitivity to be a part of the tomato tamasha. On the other hand, to those who are out there to make this event a success, all seems fair in the name of fun!

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