Nothing irks the common man more than the rising price of onion or other such daily commodities in the market. Is this spurt in prices due to rains? Is this not a trend which is often created amidst the approaching polls? Around the assembly elections in Maharashtra, onions have reddened multiple folds than their earlier colour.
The question is, why do we not consume Chinese version of this bulb, an underground stem instead? Aren’t they imported here? We know little of it. In Maharashtra, onions mostly come in the vegetable market from Nashik. But rains have spoilt the taste, and the prices have shot up. The vegetable sells at the rate of petrol now! Even though the spiralling rate reminds us of the Congress days, there seems to be no marked difference in the BJP days either. Twitteratis point out that if onions are mostly produced in BJP-ruled states, why are the prices so high? A basic food item has once again slipped from the consumer’s reach. Why are we not looking for other options like Egyptian onions? The government has a buffer stock and it is supplying the leafy item through its agencies in the open market. The common people still fret and fume as they have to cough up more money to consume the essential thing.
In French, there is a clear expression “occupez-vous de vas oignons” which means mind your own business in English, but can be literally translated as “take care of your onions”. Right here, the surging prices have found a way of doubling farmers’ low income in a short period. To get rid of this menacing problem of rising onion price perhaps this ancient “allium cepa” (onion) will now be produced in a factory with corporate collaboration as corporate taxes has been slashed recently. These factory-produced onions will be cheaper. However, as consumers shed tears over onion price, let us conclude with food historians’ belief that farming of onions originated in Central Asia even when other research suggests it was first grown in Iran and West Pakistan. What ignites more interest in the surging price of the onions is a recent report dated September 23 from Fatuha near Patna in Bihar, where a locked godown was raided by the thieves who burgled several quintiles of onions worth ₹8 lakh along with a huge amount of cash. Was it a reaction over the rising price of onions? Apparently. It also coincides with Newton’s theory of “To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction”.