Teardrops on my plate

An onion may make you cry while you cut it, but this time there is an occasion to tear up because of the vegetable’s soaring prices. Whether it is sambar, chicken curry, biryani or rajma, the Delhiite has developed a serious dependence on onion supplies for go-to dishes.

“This is a terrible increase. All of us are facing serious losses. People in India use onions in almost every dish. Most of them have stopped buying the vegetable (mostly working-class people),” shares Manoj Kumar, a vegetable vendor.  

In fact, last Sunday, Delhi banned all onion export after local prices jumped to `4,500 per 100 kg, the highest in nearly six years, due to a heavy monsoon that damaged crops and has resulted in a shortage of demand.

Meera Sharma, a 36-year-old housewife, shares, “I try to make more of those dishes which have lesser use of onions. We have cut down our consumption of the vegetable.”

The retail price has hovered between `60 and `70 a kg, which is more than double the normal rate. Suresh Jain, a retailer from Delhi, says, “Navaratri and the export ban have had some major impact as well. However, the price is yet to stabilise and, in the past few days, it has witnessed a steep increase.”

Aarti Tripathi, a teacher, shares, “It is pretty much difficult for us to make dishes without onion. So we are anyway buying it, but my domestic worker has stopped purchasing the vegetable. Everyone cannot afford what is staple, in fact, what is a necessity.”