The Ultimate Fruit Punch

You can go bananas over lopsided policies or praise someone for doing a plum job. Far beyond their roles on plates and literature, fruits have become powerful symbols of carrying messages of peace, awareness, solidarity, and dissent. From watermelons to bananas, pineapples to lemons and cherries, there’s a basketful of fruits crisscrossing the world which can pack the ultimate punch to send governments and leaders in a tizzy.

Fruit For Thought

As the wave of solidarity for Palestinians emerged on social media, so did a slice of watermelon. Banners, T-shirts, accessories to emojis, people across the world today are exchanging watermelon a slice on social media to show their support. There’s an interesting slice of history here. In 1980, the Israeli government banned the Palestinian flag and its colours (red, green, black and white). An art exhibition in Ramallah, featuring prominent artists, was shut down. When Issam Badrl, an artist, proposed painting a flower with the flag’s colours, an Israeli officer vehemently stated: “Even if you paint a watermelon, it will be confiscated.”

During the flag ban, the watermelon became a creative symbol, allowing artists to express Palestinian identity and resistance, bearing each colour of the Palestinian flag.

Intelligent Fruition

Manmeet Devgun (49), performance artist and educator elaborates, “As innocent and humble in its existence, a fruit serves as an intelligent and creative stand-out symbol to raise voice against injustice. Such symbolic references grab the attention of everyone and the subject becomes more noticeable. When you carry such an object (fruit) as a symbolic reference, it becomes like an unexpected entry, unlike banners which at times, become like a background prop.”

For several years, the pineapple has been widely adopted as a symbol for women dealing with infertility. The power of social media and IVF technology took the pineapple to another level to spread awareness and show solidarity. Despite not being corroborated by any scientific evidence, the pineapple and fertility remain more anecdotal. Women undergoing egg retrievals don pineapple-themed attire, use pineapple accessories for medication storage, and even employ pineapple-shaped ice packs for injections. Pineapple motifs extend to clothing, jewellery, emojis and tattoo, creating a unifying and supportive emblem for those on the journey to conceive. When the import of pineapple from Taiwan was banned by China in 2021, ‘Freedom Pineapples’ a delicious rebellion entered into play. The world embraced the Cantonese pronunciation of pineapple (bo luo) sounds which is similar to “fight and win” in Cantonese, making it a rallying cry.

For some, life is a bowl of cherries. For others, cherry toppings on cake and cream spread joy, but be careful, the next time you send an emoji of two red cherries to someone. They could simply misunderstand it as a flirtation move or an invite for a romantic rendezvous.

Reference in Art

Food has been a source of carrying information or a cause since time immemorial. Rajyashri Goody titled ‘Ukadala’ at the Serendipity Arts Festival, December 2019, depicts various ceramic pieces laid out on the floor. Each piece resembles a food item and in totality, a thali. The installation highlights how the Dalits have had to struggle to put food on their plates. Many often had to live off leftovers of discarded waste, often stale fruits, old chapatis etc that eventually they’d just ferment and then cook. Shukla Sawant (60), Professor of Visual Studies in School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU says, “Other than creative expression, what does an ordinary person on the streets have to protest against the abuse of power? Wit, humour and caricature are often the only creative means that people have to stand up against the incomprehensible levels of violence from above. These are then often channelised into inventive forms of resistance.”

Know Your Lemons

‘Know Your Lemons’ is the work of Corrine Ellsworth Beaumont, PhD who founded the NPO ‘Know Your Lemons® Foundation’ (formerly Worldwide Breast Cancer) in 2014. It uses lemons visually to break literacy barriers and confront breast cancer taboos, globally impacting education and saving lives with its accessible, non-threatening and innovative approach. The campaign, with its main visual of 12 lemons in an egg box represents different possible symptoms. It empowers patients and physicians to identify the early signs of breast cancer and feel confident in diagnosis and treatment options.

Peel Away Racism

The world of football took it to a larger audience and gained solidarity against racism in 2014 when Brazilian footballer Dani Alves faced racial abuse on the field. A fan threw a banana at him during a match, instead of reacting negatively, Alves nonchalantly picked up the banana, peeled it, and took a bite. This defiant act turned the incident into a symbol of anti-racism and solidarity. The hashtag #WeAreAllMonkeys emerged in response to that incident. The hashtag became a global movement, with people posting pictures of themselves eating bananas. Neymar Jr posted an image of himself with his toddler on social media with a cheeky smile and a banana saying: #WeAreAllMonkeys. The post received huge traction with numerous likes and retweets. Several other sportspersons and footballers like Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez too extended their support with banana selfies, sending a powerful message that regardless of race or ethnicity, we are all equal, akin to monkeys.

Pomegranate Paradox

The abundance of hidden seeds within the pomegranate makes it a potent symbol of fertility and life within a womb whereas ancient Egyptians regarded this fruit as a symbol of prosperity and ambition. Some studies say that pomegranates and figs are aphrodisiacs. The luscious red pomegranate often called ‘love bomb’ is also known as a weapon of destruction (green hand grenade) in war. The red apple synonymous with health, ironically also symbolises the forbidden fruit of sin in the Bible’s Genesis chapter. Manmeet says, “These symbols aren’t taken for granted and with the symbols, the cause also travels across the globe.” In the age of social media, such symbolic meaning of fruits to raise voices not only get noticed but applauded and reach millions of people across the world.

Watermelon: A slice of watermelon made waves across the globe as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians

Pineapple: The pineapple is considered as a symbol for women dealing with infertility and is also used as a symbol to talk about IVF normal

Banana: The humble banana became a means to show support to sportspersons who faced racism on the field with hashtag #weareallmonkeys

Lemons: The Know Your Lemons Foundation used lemons to break literacy barriers, confront breast cancer taboos and spread awareness

Cherries: A symbol of two red cherries (photo, graphic, emoji) symbolises a healthy state of mind but can also mean flirtation and invite for a romantic rendezvous

Pomegranate: It is often called ‘love bomb’ with its hidden seeds is a symbol of fertility, and prosperity as well as a weapon of destruction (green hand grenade)

A fruit serves as an intelligent and creative stand-out symbol to raise voice against injustice.” — Manmeet Devgun, performance artist and educator

Wit, humour and caricature are often the only creative means that people have to stand up against the incomprehensible levels of violence from above.” — Shukla Sawant, Professor, (Visual Studies) SAA, JNU