BY APURVA RAI
JUST a few days ago me and my family were invited to a dinner by a friend of mine who happened to be Brahmin by birth. Soon after reaching his home we were served with some cold juice and hot pakoras. The snacks made me comfortable and pepped up my hunger as I was more eager in a sumptuous food.
A short while later we were very politely asked to join the family
for dinner. I felt happy. The hosts were quite humble and guided us to the
dining area which was adjacent to the drawing room. The dinner lounge
was well lit and the table beautifully arranged. I felt even happier. However,
the happiest moment came when the lids were removed and a nice aroma filled the
entire room.
I have a strong belief that the way you are served food and the way
you are treated at the dining table only gives you the impression what place
you have in the minds and heart of the hosts. Here it was somewhat like that.
Though there were not many dishes but the simplicity, grace and love showered
on me and my family gave us a feeling that we are nothing less than VIPs. Perhaps
it was an evening for us only.
Nice cutlery, perfectly placed plates, spoons and glasses proved how
special we were for our hosts. To me the nicely done dinner table clearly spoke
volumes about the hospitality showered by my friend's family and how well
articulate was his better half who had taken care of every little thing that
one could expect.
Everyone took his seat. My eyes were still gazing at the
arrangement of things and the nice cutlery. To add goodness to the things there
was nice food in the middle of the table. The colour and aroma was enough to shift
my mind to a dream mode and it quickly started imagining how nice the food
would taste once it is transferred from serving bowls to my plate. However,
that precious moment was yet to arrive and my impatience and anxiousness was
put to further test. Before we could help ourselves my friend dropped a bomb---
"the food has been prepared by my wife without using garlic and
onion." It was then I realised that I was invited to the dinner by a
Brahmin friend who would abstain from onion and garlic.
Onion brings smiles too!
I laughed and said you save a lot of money. The topic of discussion
now turned towards escalating onion prices which have brought tears into the
eyes of common man. While we were still laughing and discussing onion prices
and the politics of onions in India I could see a sense of pride on my friend's
face.
For quite some time onion is stealing newspaper headlines and the news channels clamouring over its north-bound prices. Even my mobile phone is full of various satires and satirical images related to onion which have poured in from various sources on WhatsApp.
After the dinner was over and I had left the friend's place I
realised that onion not only brings tears into eyes it also brings smiles on
the faces of many.
Right from my childhood I have found onion finding place on the front page of the newspapers at least once in a year. I have also found it strange that even the prime minister of India needs to intervene or at least take note of onion prices which is a basic ingredient for cooking food in millions of kitchens. Ironically, not a single prime minister right from Indira Gandhi to Narendra Modi has been able to solve the issue or stabilise the prices of onions which are the basic requirement of food whether it is the rich man or a poor man's kitchen. As a layman I have never been able to understand who actually determines the prices of onion and why is that every time only politicians need to interfere in the issue or need to get involved in the muddle.
Biggest mystery
I feel onion prices are the biggest mystery in Independent India
which not a single food minister or the prime minister has been able to solve
till now. So much so that onions have even led to the fall of several
governments in the past and even today they are a major issue during
electioneering. It is again a mystery that the politicians make so of hue and cry over onion prices before elections but find themselves helpless as soon as elections are over and they are in power. It may also be true, I guess, that the politicians are not
interested in stabilizing the prices of onions for obvious reasons.
What saddens me most is the fact that farmers producing onions
continue to be poor, debt-ridden and often committing suicide in despair. What
astounds me again is that not a single politician has ever committed suicide over
onions though they express maximum concern over it. I feel sorry when I find
those producing onions have to take loans and in case of failure to repay it
they have to end their life.
Clever middlemen rule
On
the other hand, politics over onion is done by those who are clever, have
muscle power, money but no desire to find a solution. May be perhaps if onion
prices are settled and the prices come down the farmers will live and the
politicians die. While the crisis takes the lives of innocent, poor and
ordinary, making hungama over it gives life to those who are influential,
powerful and rich. 
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NOTE:
To read another related article please copy/paste the given link.
1) Land Acquisition and Fate of Farmers
https://apurvaopinion.blogspot.com/2015/06/land-acquisition-and-fate-of-farmers.html
