We need to go back in time to understand why Indians eat with their hands in the first place. In India, eating with the hands is a long-standing custom that has profound historical roots. Meals were traditionally served on the floor to members of traditional Indian families, using either stainless steel or banana leaf serving utensils. 

    It's an art form that unites flavours and promotes a sense of community and togetherness, far from being a barbaric ritual.

      Relevance to Culture:

                        In many regions of India, eating with your hands—also referred to as "eating with your fingers"—is a deeply rooted custom and culture. It is thought to stimulate every sense, including touch, taste, and smell, from the food's aroma to the fringertips' touch and taste. In Hinduism, eating with your hands is a sign of respect and appreciation for the sustenance the land provides. 

Enhancing Flavor:

                       It is stated that using your hands to eat improves the meal experience, regardless of cultural importance. Diners may engage with the meal more intimately and experience the textures and temperatures of the food directly because to the tactile connection that occurs between fingers and food. Since using your hands allows you to better combine flavours and textures than using cutlery, many Indian recipes are designed to be consumed .

Social Cohesion:

                                   Indian culture places a strong emphasis on eating meals with friends and family, and using your hands to eat encourages intimacy and togetherness. Gathering around a communal dish, called a thali, and using your hands to scoop up amounts of rice, curries, and dal promotes social interaction and fosters a laid-back, celebratory environment.

Manners and Sanitation:

                  In India, eating with your hands is a sanitary activity when done appropriately, despite popular belief to the contrary. Before and after meals, hands are properly cleaned, and only the right hand is used to eat—the left hand is seen as filthy. It is customary to use one's fingers to pick up little quantities of food and to keep one's hands away from communal serving dishes.

Accepting Diversities:

             Although eating with the hands is a prevalent practice in India, there are regional and cultural variations in traditions and practices. Every area of India has its own special way of carrying out this age-old custom, from the delicate craft of moulding rice with fingertips in South India to the filling ritual of shredding and dipping bread in North India.