COULD IT GET ANY REDDER? La Tomatina Festival: A disconnect of classes

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  • As the more affluent swayed to the tracks of live DJs, squashing tomatoes on each other, those short of a meal criticized tomato wastage

A Spanish festival, La Tomatina, was held on September 14 at a Bedian farmhouse and was organised by HK events.

The La Tomatina festival, considered to be the biggest food fight in the world is held every year in Valencia town of Bunol, Spain where participants throw tomatoes at each other for fun and entertainment.

Over 3,000 people attended the event at Bedian farm house where a large consignment of tomatoes was bought to be thrown at each other. The crowd swayed to the tracks of live DJs playing in the house and went wild squashing tomatoes on each other.

However, such events often invite huge criticism from the society keeping in view that tomatoes are still a rare commodity for the poor to afford. Where the city streets throng with beggars, who are unable to afford one meal a day, it is nothing but a display of the lowest category of human behaviour towards the poor and hungry, said a section of residents of the provincial capital.

Considering the statistics related to food scarcity and poverty in Pakistan, many term the activity as ‘despicable’. In a society which speaks of tolerance and religious respect the elite has a long way to go in terms of showing care and concern to those for whom acquiring one meal a day has become a never ending battle.

It shows clear disconnect between the social classes in our society where the ‘crème de la crème’ are oblivious to the value of food.