India is a destination for food fanatics; there is no doubt about it. If India is the ultimate place to visit to enjoy different traditions and cultures, it is also one of the best places in the world for gourmet cooking. Because of this, India can be called a foodie destination. When you visit India, you would observe that people, especially people in South India eat by using their hands and not with forks or spoons. Some people are put off by this because they cannot imagine how people can use their bare hands to eat; they consider it unhygienic. However, Indians have their own sense of logic for using their hands.

Why Indians eat with their hands?

Indians believe that that the feet and hands are conduits of the five elements – air, fire, water, earth and space. The forefinger represents air, the mid-finger is fire, the ring finger represents earth, the little finger represents water and the thumb portrays space. When you eat with your hand, it acts as an extension of your digestive system and this stimulation and touch activates the digestive juices in your stomach. When the fingers touch the food and you start eating, the million nerve endings on your fingers immediately alert the digestive system. This will release the required digestive juices and enzymes. You must have seen young children sucking on their thumb; the same reason applies there too. It is a kind of stimulation.