Tomato prices have increased again around Rs. 150-200 levels. There is a lot of hue and cry over the prices and to a certain extent, understandably so. Tomatoes are one of the most commonly used ingredients in Indian dishes. This price jump happens every year sometimes it’s tomatoes, sometimes it’s onions. I have witnessed this trend ever since I was a little boy (now they call me man-boy), the governments change, and calendars change, even people change but this trend doesn’t.
In my society’s park where most people come from the morning walk, tomatoes are a hot burning topic these days. To give you a brief background of my society, most of the guys in my area earn six-figure monthly salaries and drive expensive SUVs some of them are retired from reputed government jobs and earn a decent income from pensions and other investments.
The ladies that come to the park are mostly housewives who consider the morning walk an opportunity of flaunting their new platinum ring (by repeatedly pointy at something with their ring finger) or Diamond Nose pin (by doing that yoga exercise called anulom-vilom in which you have to close one of your nostrils and breathe with the other but she only closed the nostril that was without the Diamond nose pin).
These people usually talk about different topics in their respective circles but nowadays tomato prices have become the great binding force to bring them to this seamless discussion. It would be apt to they are ‘divided by demographics, united by tomato’.
It was an overcast dusky Saturday morning of July. The discussion started when someone asked ’Tamaatar kya chal raha hai Aaj (how is tomato doing today) and then an uncle, who is a doctor by profession in his 60s gave an introductory speech about how difficult it has become to make ends meet, and maybe he should increase his consultation fees to Rs. 1200 from Rs. 1000.
Then the uncle who is an AGM at a Public sector bank stepped into the discussion with his stealth knowledge of Economics and gave an explanation how temporary disruption tomato prices can bring a slowdown in the Economy since RBI and consecutively his bank will have to raise interest rates thereby reducing the money in the economy.
As the banker Uncle was talking suddenly an Aunty stepped in drawing attention to the rise in LPG, Tomato, and Petrol prices moving her hands a bit too much while talking as if to explain but secretly expecting that someone notices her new Daimond Studded Bracelet that her son brought for her from the gulf. (He could have brought a few tomatoes too).
Coming back to the tomato let’s just work out the Math, Tomato prices jumped from Rs. 60 to around 150 that’s about a 2.5 times increase. An average household’s daily consumption of tomatoes is around 250gms, I.e., 1/4 of a kg so when the prices were Rs 60 a family’s daily tomato consumption expenditure comes to 60*1/4 I.e., 15 rupees. When prices are at Rs 150 daily consumption comes to 150* 1/4 i.e. Rs. 38 so the difference is Rs.38-15=23. Rs 23 per day translates to RS 690 monthly, it’s slightly cheaper than a Netflix subscription or half a bottle of blended Scotch, or a meal for two at dominos.
I don’t think these people are really affected by the tomato prices, maybe it’s our great Indian appetite for drama, spices, and self-victimization, can’t really blame them. We want drama everywhere. Neighbours and relatives are seemingly more concerned about your career and marriage than their shooting cholesterol levels and their personal fractured blood relationships.
