By Gayathri Naga
How many of you knew that tomatoes are botanically and scientifically a fruit? Since it is very low on sugar content, it is consumed as vegetables in our diet. So, what happens when a fruit comes disguised as a vegetable, it gives rise to way too many confusions and even legal speculations!
Hmm, doesn’t this sound familiar?
An artist disguised as an engineer, I am talking about you and me; the average Indian student. We are just like these tomatoes.
Intriguing enough? Read ahead to find out more.
1. They are both victims of Society’s myopic view and are left with an Identity crisis:
Science tells us that tomatoes are fruits, even though the myopic view of society begs to differ. This dilemma in tomato’s status, sort of gives it a very weird sexual status, if I must say, in the Kingdom Plantae. For this ambiguity in tomato’s ‘social’ status, all the credits go to the culinary world.
Now let’s talk about Human tomatoes. Yes, that is a term that I coined for a specific section of people in the Indian society who by nature have a great aptitude in a particular field but are forced to do something else, just because the society feels that it has a higher status. All the Anu aunties and Sharma uncles make it their life’s mission to turn you into a human tomato.
2. They are a result of society’s conformity:
What’s really disturbing is that over time we have stopped questioning the status of tomatoes because we are so used to seeing them in salads, curries and sabzis and not in desserts or cakes. By what the society has taught us or what we have observed, all fruits are sweet and used in desserts. The point is that tomatoes need justice, not just a mere bill saying that hereby we restore tomatoes real identity and they will be found in the fruits section of the supermarket, but sterner stuff like a tomato revolution in the culinary world. So should the silenced voices of millions of human tomatoes out there.
3. They are found everywhere:
Tomatoes are literally everywhere. They are the most easily available ‘vegetable’ in the market. So are the Indian students, you can find them pursuing courses that they are clearly not cut out for in the educational institutions across the country. It could be your best friend or your neighbour’s son, the point is that there are so many of them and all over the place.
4. Both of them can blend easily:
If you know anything about cooking at all, you’ll know that tomato forms the base for most curries and blends easily with anything from paneer to chicken. The Indian student is not far behind in this, they can adapt to any stream or course despite being forced. One can say that they accept their ‘fate’ with grace.
5. Big companies squeeze out their juices:
Apart from fresh tomatoes, you can also find pickles, sauces and pastes packaged by these big companies, stacked in supermarkets. Similarly, by the end of their student life, the human tomatoes are again forced to take up a job in some big company where they are overworked, underpaid and by the end of their youthful exuberance is bottled up like sauces in a supermarket.
Let’s get real: We have people in our society, the success guru kind, who tell us to follow our dreams and chase them. It is easier said than done especially in a society like our very own. Not everybody gets to live their dream and it’s not because they can’t, it is simply because they aren’t allowed to and hence, the emergence of human tomatoes.
And all this talk about India’s underperformance at being a developed nation, super economy and better workforce won’t prevail if the tomatoes knew where they belong. Simply if people could do what they wanted to do, the world would be a better place, an efficient one.
So what do you think of the tomato theory? Tell us in the comments below.
Image Credits: Google
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