Soaring lemon prices leave a sour taste, trigger memes and cartoons

‘When life gives you lemons…’ seemed to be the slogan online on Monday, except lemonade couldn’t be made as the price of citrus fruit soared to Rs 350 per kg in New Delhi at the last check.

The prices of lemons soared along with those of green chilli, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and other vegetables following an increase in fuel and transport costs.

News reports quoted vegetable vendors as saying they had stopped giving away free chillies and cilantro to customers. With lemon prices soaring, along with petrol, diesel and LPG prices, Twitter has seen a proliferation of cartoons, jokes and memes.

Cartoonist Manjul referred to reports that restaurants, restaurant co-owners and customers were in despair over the rising price of nimbu paani, a summer staple.

The varied uses of lemon in India – from warding off evil to cleaning things up – have inspired many jokes.

This meme recalled that when Defense Minister Rajnath Singh took delivery of multimillion-dollar Rafale fighter jets from France in October 2019, he performed a Hindu ritual that used lemons.

This cartoonist recalled Union Finance Minister Sitharaman’s comment in Parliament when onion and garlic went up in December 2019 that she came from a family that didn’t eat a lot of them either.

The slogan “when life gives you lemons…” has found new meaning.

Many have drawn parallels with rising fuel prices.

Some turned to movies and their favorite songs.