If you visit India or visit an Indian friend’s home, you’d probably be surprised to see people eating with their hand. Being a westerner, it is normal to wonder why they use their hand instead of spoons and forks. Some even find the practice to be annoying, unhygienic, uncultured, uncivilized, and perhaps even gross! But is it really so? Here are some reasons why eating with the hand is a better and safer way to eat.
Connecting with Food
We read so much about mindful eating and connecting with the food we eat, but are we really doing so? What better way to connect with the food than to eat with your hand! By doing that, you put the sense of touch to good use, feel the food, and understand its texture. It improves your consciousness of the food and helps you enjoy it completely.
Type of Food
Some foods are best eaten with hands, don’t you agree? How does one eat chicken wings, burger, popcorn, pizza, or chips? With hands, of course! Similarly, certain types of Indian foods such as roti, dosa, idli, pani puri, and pav bhaji cannot be eaten with a spoon or fork.
Age-old Practice
Indians give a lot of importance to culture and tradition. Eating food using hands has been a practice since vedic days. In fact, hands are believed to be the conduits of five elements. If you visit South India, you will see that food is served on a banana leaf during special occasions. Ideally, people sit on the floor and use their right hand to eat food from the banana leaf. However, the practice of sitting on the floor is diminishing, but eating with hand still prevails and is preferred by everyone.
Hygiene
Food is not eaten with unwashed hands. It is a common practice to wash hands before touching the food and obviously after eating too. So that makes a person clean his hands at least six times in a day when having food, apart from other times.
So now that you know the reasons behind this practice, we know you wouldn’t give a questioning look the next time your Indian friend eats with his hand. If you’d like, do visit an Indian home and experience the warmth and goodness of eating with your hand!
