Contributed By Sri Harsha Pulipaka
"Hey..how can you guys eat food with your bare hands???"
"These third world countries are so unhygienic. No table manners."
హ్మ్..... ఒరేయి.. మీకు ఒకటి రెండు మూడు అని .. సున్నాతో మొదలుపెట్టి అంకెలు నేర్పిందే మేము... మీరు మమ్మల్ని 3rd world అంటారా? మీరంతా ఆకులు కట్టుకుని ఈకలు పీక్కునేటప్పుడే మేము నాగలి పట్టి నాగరికత చెక్కాం, మీరా మాకు పధ్ధతులు నేర్పేది? అసలు ఆహారం చేత్తో తీనటం అంటే ఏంటో నేను ఇప్పుడు మీకు చెప్తా.. Listen..
1. Vedic representation: Indian cuisine has all kinds of food that are more convenient to eat with hands. The hand gestures we make for tearing, scooping, folding and mixing involve a lot of 'yoga mudras' we generally use in our classical dancing. This automatically generates positive energy and is transferred into the food which is in our hand. "Eating food is a form of yoga". That is why we eat food sitting on the ground in the basic 'padmaasana.'
Our five fingers represent five nature elements which circulate the whole cosmic energy around the world and its miniature form can be depicted in between our fingers.
Thumb: FIRE Index: AIR Middle: SKY Ring: EARTH Little: WATER
Your fist has the essence... BELIEVE!
2. Process we follow: Coming to the hygiene part...We don't rub against a tissue paper for cleaning purpose all the time. We use water to clean. Comparatively, we are more hygienic. In the same way, we have a system of not only washing hands but also legs before we sit to eat. It's our tradition to offer a bucket and mug to the guests to wash their hands and legs. That's the first thing we do when we enter the home. We eat on banana leaves and use copper utensils to serve food and water. I think there is no need to explain their medicinal values.
3. Scientific representation: We all know that our fingers have prints. But do you know that there are nerve endings to them which are directly connected to sensory processing part of our brain?!! Yes they are... the moment you touch the food our brain realizes the temperature, type and even the amount of food you are gulping each time. So the brain sends immediate signals to our stomach and others parts which start preparing the enzymes and acids ready in exact amounts. This helps a lot for digestion and energy conversion of food. Cutlery doesn't have this sense. Just like you guys. Our hands always contain bacteria belonging to flora which are actually good for digestion and intestinal cleaning too.
4. Tradition and attention: We see God in everything which helps mankind. So we respect the food we get and feel responsible towards it. We are as innocent as we slap our cheeks for wasting even a little amount of it. Eating with our own hands gives a lot of attention towards the process of chewing and swallowing which reduces hiccuping and food jamming the with pipe. We eat food with our hand but not the both hands as you people do when you try like us. We only use single hand to eat and other hand to serve for ourselves and serving or passing the dish to others. We reserve the other for that purpose as it is manners to use a clean hand to serve food for others.
5. The feel: Just glancing at our favorite dish makes the saliva flow inside the mouth. The kinds and varieties of food we prepare are highly spicy, hot, colorful, intimidate, juicy, crunchy, smooth and tasty. Am I describing a woman here??? No it's food... Touching our favorite dish with our own hands is just like caressing your woman in a romantic mood. It's a pleasure... it gives a high. Kissing her lips is definitely beautiful ... but touching her lips before a kiss makes her crazy. The same happens with you when you start eating the food with your hands.
Eating food is like making love. Feel the Divinity, Embrace the beauty. Use your hands not cutlery... for both.
