If music is food for the soul, travel must be fire for the soul; once ignited, it leads us to new destinations and new experiences, enriching our life like nothing else. No wonder they call it ‘wanderlust’!
Being a freelance anaesthetist who is on call 24×7 in a high-pressure work environment, I realised that a getaway was the time when I could be myself unmindfully and wholeheartedly. So over the last few years, I have travelled extensively and widely to the extent that colleagues who contacted me occasionally were always asking me if I was travelling or in town?
Honestly, that one hour of my life spent in Bunol town near Valencia in Spain accounts for one of my best travel memories. It was ‘La Tomatina’, world’s biggest food fight festival celebrated on the last Wednesday of August every year.
On Wednesday, we booked a bus from our hotel at Valencia to proceed to Bunol, a ride of approximately 38 km. En route, our guide told us about the dos and don’ts; particularly that the tomatoes have to be squashed before throwing. She also talked about theories on how this festival came into being, could be a class war, a practical joke on a bad musician, the aftermath of an accidental lorry spillage or possibly disgruntled townspeople attacked councilmen during a celebration. Whatever started it, people enjoyed it so much that it was repeated in successive years.
As we reached there, we could feel a palpable thrill in the air. Most local people were dressed in white. Bunol has a population of 9000. It is a small town, so the authorities have limited official ticketing for the event for 20,000 people. The shops and houses cover their walls with huge blue polythene covers to protect the walls from the inevitable mess.
Technically, the festival starts when a brave soul has climbed the palojabon, a greased wooden pole approximately 2 stories high and reached the coveted ham at the top. The signal of the fight to start is the firing of water cannons. At 11 am, many trucks loaded with ripe tomatoes pass through the centre of the town ( plaza de pueblo ) throwing tomatoes on the bystanders who then pick them and crush and playfully fight with them. The whole street becomes a river of tomato puree in no time and everybody is drenched in tangy tomatoes. The crazy yet well-mannered fun people have in this one hour has to be witnessed once and it will stay in your memory for a lifetime.
A hooter then blows signalling the end. After the second siren, no more tomatoes can be thrown. Then, the cleaning process starts which involves the use of hoses of firefighting trucks by the authorities. People are extremely kind and help the passersby to clean up with the help of hoses from their balconies. We headed to Bunol river to wash and clean. There too, strangers helped each other wash away the tomatoes in their hair and body. As we walked back to our bus, to our surprise, the street was almost clean. A certain air of revelry and post-festive spirit still prevailed.
‘La Tomatina’ is an indelible tangy memory for me. This whole scene has been recreated by Ritesh Sidwani in his popular movie ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’.
We have one life to live.
So travel not to escape it or it will escape you.
Dr. Pooja Gulati
