A few days ago, at a luncheon hosted in honour of a minister in one of the capital's clubs, a few Punjabi ladies looked aghast when the chief guest served himself some rice and chicken and started eating with his hands, licking his fingers occasionally. “Look at him. At least, he could have used a spoon. After all, it's a public luncheon and he's a minister,” bleated a lady squeamishly. “Wonder what he does when he goes for official functions?” said another visibly put-off aunty, while piling loads of matar-pulao, aloo-gobhi and boondi raita on her plate.

EATING WITH ONE'S HAND

Now, this gathering had women from all regions of the country, South, East, West and even some North Indian states, most of whom who were least surprised by the minister's unseemly act of using his hands to eat rice. In fact, a lot of them felt honoured that the minister was feeling rather ‘at home' and was enjoying his meal with his fingers, and was clearly savouring the dishes on his platter. But the aunties weren't amused. “Had it been chapaati , one could still understand,” said one. Soon after the Minister left, there was some talk on the ‘ habit of eating with one's hands'. Some said there were hygiene issues, some others said that held true for cutlery, too. After all, who knows how or where the spoons and knives had been washed.

Interestingly, many foodies say that the culture of eating meals with one's hands is as widespread as the sky above our heads. In fact, one of them has even termed it as a “refined art”. After all, not everybody can manage it, just as not everybody can handle another ‘refined art' — using chopsticks. And, it's not just in most regions in India, eating with hands is common in South East Asian, Arab and African countries. However, it's the Western way of using the fork and knife that is considered the right eating ‘etiquette', even though when it comes to hamburgers, pizzas, fries etc, Westerners use their hands quite liberally. One difference between them and our ‘Westernised elite' is that we Indians use spoons and forks, but still rinse our hands and mouths after meals, sometimes even when finger bowls are provided. Using paper or cloth napkins isn't yet on our ‘etiquette' radar.

THE IRANIAN DIPLOMAT

This brings us to an interesting anecdote in an Iranian diplomat's blog. Apparently, at a formal dinner, no sooner had he started eating, a Western journalist sitting opposite him burst out: “Is it true that in Iran you eat with your hands?” There was pin-drop silence in the dining area. “Perhaps, sir, it may be true,” the Iranian gentleman replied, “but your question is a manifestation of the depth of your ignorance and effrontery.” And then the diplomat held forth: “Sir, by this inquiry you imply that the inventors of knives, spoons, forks, bowls, plates, chairs, dinning tables or any other dining utensils are European. But if you go to Persepolis… you will find the specimen of all these utensils in the archaeological museum. You should have a good look at the stone carvings for the utensils engraved on the walls and staircases of that colossal palace. And if you remember that the Persians erected Persepolis 2,500 years ago, then you should also realise that at that time you were just cavemen!”

There is another interesting anecdote in the memoirs of Russian Bolshoi ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya, regarding a dinner that she shared with the late Jawaharlal Nehru. With a translator, who was also a KGB agent, hovering around the dinner table, Nehru, known for his wit, humour and refined taste, started talking of the ‘fine art of eating pilaf', while digging his fingers into the dish. An amused Maya remembers Nehru saying that eating pilaf with a fork and knife “is like making love through a translator”, literally leaving the ‘spy out in the cold'.

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