How I Explained Eating Food with Hands to a German Traveler

Being and Indian, what would you do when someone tells you that you are too primitive to eat with bare hands? I would eat the person alive!

Just kidding!

If I am friends with the foreigner, I just google the advantages of eating with bare hands, and forward the link to him or her. However, if I have met someone from another country for the first time, I politely wipe off my hands and explain in brief about the benefits of eating with hands.

The same happened with a German companion of mine with whom I happened to have a formal dinner in Delhi. This guy, Heinz, happened to meet me from office, and I was supposed to take him for an Indian dinner. So I decided to rent a car in Delhi without driver so that I can show places around, and take him to the best place to have a sumptuous Indian meal.

We met around 6 pm, and I asked him if he would like to eat first or roam around and then come back for dinner. He chose the latter option, so we drove around Connaught Place for a while. He liked the vibrant atmosphere of the place and he mentioned that he loved the way people were cheerful in general.

Then, we went to have dinner around 8 pm to a Punjabi restaurant that I knew served mouth-watering meals. I ordered relatively less spicy food that day because I felt that Heinz might not be comfortable with typical Punjabi food that may blow smoke out of his ears.

As the Tawa Chicken and Butter Naan arrived, my mouth started watering. The waiter served the meal for us onto our plates. I saw the confusion on Heinz’s face as he waited for me to begin eating. I gorged into the naan and chicken, of course with my hands, while ripping off the meat from the chicken bones. He was dumbstruck at my perfection of using bare hands, which explained why I had gone to wash them right before the food arrived.

He asked why I was eating that way. I was expecting this to come, and I explained to him that eating with exposed hands without using a plastic glove was the ancient Indian culture. It gives you an idea of the temperature of the food, lets you realize the texture of bread and curry, and helps in mindful eating.

I don’t know whether I could explain to him well or not, but he excused himself to wash hands. When he returned to the table, he asked me to demonstrate the way of eating. Thankfully, he was an open-minded German friend, with whom I happened to go for several road trips in and around Delhi. The only reason I could really befriend him was his open-mindedness. Had he been too judgmental about the Indian mannerism, he would have him distanced from every Indian in the country.