Tomato and Egg Syndrome

 The other day I came across the news of protesters throwing eggs at their Chief Minister in Odisha, my home state back home in India. Riots, bottle, chair and stone throwing is a global phenomena. But throwing of eggs and tomatoes are very typical of India, probably extending to other South East Asian nation like our neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh. Why not potatoes and bananas, what's so special about eggs and tomatoes ? What's so special about as they say in Hindi ANDE KA FUNDA (Fundamentals of Eggs) ?

Not sure about the reason, but throwing tomatoes and eggs at the target, especially the rotten varieties is a very popular mode of protest (another one is throwing and garlanding with shoes and sandals, the older, more torn and dirtier the variety of shoe, more humiliating it is). Nevertheless all these items do add some value additions to the turmoil of protests, particularly tomatoes which don't come cheap as they are quite expensive these days.

Bollywood movies freely depict the throwing of eggs, tomato, shoes at unsavory characters. Immediately comes to my mind Amitabh's movie SHARABI where the Superstar forcing a Saree clad Ranjeet to dance on stage showing off his hairy chest and cleavage along with his protruding navel as the audience throws tomatoes at him.

A Congress politician from Odisha and now deceased, Lulu Mohapatra was the champion of Tomato and Egg politics. Protected by his Godfather who was an ex-CM of Odisha his henchmen left no stones unturned while throwing stones and off course volleys of tomatoes and eggs. After his death this trend too a break from Odisha politics until now as that culture is back again.

There are lots of juxtaposition between Egg and tomato other than the nuisance value of being used as missiles and projectiles. Both have high nutritional value. Egg has almost all vitamins except Vitamin C, i.e., it is filled with Vitamins A, B, D and E. Only Vitamin it lacks is Vitamin C. Tomato compensates for the lack of Vitamin C by supplying plenty of it. So being hit by a mix of Egg 🥚 and Tomato 🍅 missiles will provide the stipulated daily dose of Vitamins to the victim.

A la vitamins, Eggs and Tomatoes compliment each other as weapons of protest as well. Not to mention tomato and egg get along well in several dishes like omelets and sandwiches. Tomato as an ingredient enhances taste and flavor of egg curry. It seems egg and tomato, one non-vegetarian and other vegetarian are made for and married to each other, exhibiting cordial conjugal life on dining table and brickbats to be hurled at, a trait commonly shared by married couples.

The tomato and egg brand of politics in India isn't going away anytime soon. But like the legendary unsolved mystery - which one of chicken or egg came first, the query of which one the two, tomoto and egg comes first in the throwing sequence will remain unsolved forever.