Give India, A Sincere Request to You!

Dear Sir / Madam,

At the outset, let me congratulate you for the immense amount of good work that your organisation, Give India, has been doing since decades and standing for various causes that plague our society. Your NGO is a great source of inspiration for youth like us, and perhaps, that’s why a lot of youth today is volunteering to contribute towards the betterment of the society.

Recently, I got to know that you have got associated with the upcoming La Tomatina Mumbai festival, happening in Mumbai, India, and I was completely taken aback.

Before making comment on it, I did my petty research on this most famous festival of Spain. Thanks to the latest Bollywood blockbuster, I knew that it is a festival held in Valencian town of Buñol, in which participants hurl tomatoes at each other (and that, it is a perfect place to find some sizzling beauties getting completely drenched in the red muck)


But how did this fest originate?

It was during 1945 that a set of young men wanted to join gigantes y cabezudos (Giants and Big-Heads), a parade of costumed figurines, but couldn’t do so. They ended up in a brawl, and started throwing tomatoes from a nearby stand. The fight was solved by the police, but the very next year youngsters repeated the tomato-fight, but this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. After consistent repetition of this act every year, it officially became a part of the festival.

So basically, there’s no religious or historical significance to the origin of this event. However, we, Indians technically have no right to rebut something that the whole Spain believes in. (Of course, we too celebrate a lot of festivals which might seem foolish to the non-Indians. But at least, we won’t do any propaganda for them in foreign lands)

Now, let’s come back to La Tomatina in India. Celebrating a food-fight disguised as a festival in a country which is ranked 2nd for the number of children suffering from malnutrition, is in itself an unreasonable idea.

Some organisers claim that they expect not more than 500 people to participate in this ‘festival’. They haven’t even declared the amount of tomatoes ordered. But, even if we assume that each person throws only ONE tomato (which is absolutely impossible), 500 tomatoes will be transported from our already-meagre farms. According to the universal measurements, 1 medium sized tomato weights 5 to 6 ounces. That means, even if 500 people are throwing 500 tomatoes, around 156 to 187 pounds of wastage of food. On the contrary, if these 500 tomatoes goes into making of tomato soup for the poor malnourished children of India, almost 515 children will enjoy a cup full of thick tasty tomato soup (and that too unadulterated with water or added preservatives).

We Indians believe in ‘Annna he purna Brahma’, which means food is the absolute God for us. On this backdrop, hurling tomatoes is not only a massive waste but also demeaning to the Indian culture.

As a responsible and vigilant citizen of India, I believe that this is just a ZNMD after-effect. Thanks to its record-breaking success, clever ones who know how to spin money from others success have started initiating this fad.

Hoteliers, event organisers, investors, et al realised the fortune in this concept, and have started organising such unsupported, unsubstantiated festivals, thinking that the youngsters have already got lured by the Spanish scenic beauty shown in the movie, and would definitely aspire to experience the same themselves, it’ll be like a cakewalk to drive them to join this idiotic affair. There’s no two ways about the overwhelming response these events are getting (such a plight the La Tomatina Mumbai fan page just crossed 4500!). But what these people don’t know is that there is still millions of youngsters who DO NOT support it at all!

Give India is a renowned non-profit organisation which has been doing commendable work so far. This is a request to the whole Give India Team think twice before getting associated with such events. Or else, you never know when tomato throwing might become mudslinging for you.

Please stick to your motto ‘the power to change lives’, there’s no point in wasting that power by partnering an idea worth a rotten tomato.

-Yours Sincerely,
Friend of a million starving Indians