A Bengaluru woman, Sushma Iyengar, criticized BigBasket for including free marigold flowers with her grocery order during Onam. Taking to the social media platform X, she questioned why the company assumed she should celebrate the festival, sparking a heated online debate. Many respondents were puzzled by her complaint, as most wouldn’t object to receiving flowers.
Onam is a significant annual festival in Kerala, but Iyengar, based in Karnataka, is a vocal supporter of the pro-Kannada movement, as evident from her X history. In her post, she wrote: “So according to BigBasket, we SHOULD celebrate Onam! We like it or not is not upto us. It is upto them! They come and forcefully dump this on us. Will you do the same for other festivals?? Varamahalakshmi? Dasara? Deepavali? Why give it for free for ONAM?? This is worse than conversion!”
Take a look:
So according to @bigbasket_com , we SHOULD celebrate onam! We like it or not is not upto us. It is upto them!
They come and forcefully dump this on us. Will you do the same for other festivals?? Varamahalakshmi? Dasara? Deepavali?
Why give it for free for ONAM?? This is worse… pic.twitter.com/bV0oiWr8UR
— ಸುಷ್ಮಾ ಅಯ್ಯಂಗಾರ್ (@malnadkoos) September 15, 2024
Her post, which has garnered over 4 lakh views and hundreds of polarizing comments, comes at a time when the pro-Kannadiga movement is gaining momentum. Iyengar claimed that her objection to the free flowers was about highlighting the demographic shift in Karnataka. However, not everyone agreed with her stance.
Some users, like Vinay Raikar, felt that Iyengar’s argument diluted her legitimate concerns: “By fighting for things like these, you are diluting your rightful fight. I understand the ecosystem in Bangalore seems to be promoting Onam more than it promotes some local festivities, but blame lies somewhere else and there are different ways to handle.”
Others offered alternative suggestions, like supporting local vendors: “You should buy from Kannadiga vegetable sellers directly and not from these platforms,” one person suggested. Another user commented, “Stop making everything an issue. I had received free gifts on Yugadi as well. By playing such cheap tricks you’re only bringing hatred towards our language, culture, and people. Let’s respect everybody and their culture.”
Stop making everything an issue. I had received free gifts on Yugadi as well. By playing such cheap tricks you’re only bringing hatred towards our language, culture and people. Let’s respect everybody and their culture.
— Shady Addy (@MSDFan_007) September 15, 2024
Many were critical of Iyengar’s post, with at least one person pointing out that BigBasket gives free gifts for many major festivals, regardless of religion. A user explained: “They send diya on Diwali, they sent diya on Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha, they sent colors on Holi. They sent treats on Christmas. They mostly do it on every festival.”
Several users expressed disbelief that someone could take issue with receiving free flowers. “They’re literally giving away free flowers and you found a problem with even that. Insane,” one user wrote, while another added: “It makes me so sad to think someone’s life is so rough that they’re complaining about getting free flowers.”