Why Eating With Hands Is So Alien To The West, Why It Is Not To The Rest

NDTV

2 days ago

Trigger Warning: Abusive comments ahead
"Disgusting... like animals. I***F if it's culture... still disgusting."
"Spoons exist for a reason, if you ask me."
"That's f***ng psychotic - that's the same hand he literally wipes his a** with."
"So unsanitary and 3rd world."
"Animals such as dogs and cats and even ants etc. have better personal culture when eating than they do."
If you're wondering where these are from, they're just a small sample from the thousands of racist, unfiltered, and dehumanising comments flooding social media in response to a now-viral video of Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic nominee for New York City's mayoral race in 2025, eating biryani with his bare hands.
Zohran says his worldview is inspired by the 3rd world while eating rice with his hands pic.twitter.com/FDaQfcNSJv
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 29, 2025
Yes, you read that right. A man eating food with his hands. Not committing a crime, not making a policy blunder. Just eating, the way millions do around the world.
Eating with hands may not be a practice familiar to the West, but ridiculing those who do things differently definitely seems to be.
Mamdani, the son of Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, was raised in a household where hand-eating was not just accepted, it was the norm. Like in many South Asian homes, meals weren't just about nourishment. They were rituals of connection, of culture, of comfort.
And here's the thing: Eating with hands isn't just a cultural quirk or family tradition. It's ancient, intentional, and, dare we say, more delicious (A study shows this too).
Since The Oldest Civilisations
Way before forks and knives strutted into European dining rooms, humans were already eating. And eating fine without them. The Egyptians, Greeks, Mesopotamians and, yes, the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation (around 2500 BCE), all ate with their hands. It wasn't messy or uncouth. It was a mindful way of consuming food, believed to prime the body for digestion.
In fact, the sacred Indian texts, the Vedas and the Upanishads, mention eating with hands as a practice that aligns the body and spirit with the act of eating. Each bite becomes a sensory experience involving sight, smell, taste, and touch.
Ayurveda, India's ancient medical system developed more than 3,000 years ago, reinforces this. Wellness expert Luke Coutinho also further explains that touch stimulates digestive enzymes and signals the body to prepare for nourishment.
So, while cutlery may offer convenience, hands offer connection - to food, to tradition, and to self.
Geography Shaped Our Plates
It also comes down to food types.
Indian cuisine, with its fluffy rice, soft breads, aromatic gravies and tangy pickles, lends itself beautifully to hand-eating. Mixing and scooping with fingers allows us to combine textures and flavours exactly the way we want, a piece of naan dipped just right into dal, or a portion of rice mashed with curry to perfect consistency.
In contrast, much of Western food - think roasts, grilled meats, pastas (with less spices and flavour) - is structured, needing to be cut or portioned. Hence, the rise of knives and forks.
But even in the West, hands weren't always shunned at the table.
What The?
Cutlery didn't always rule Western dining tables. Forks first appeared in southern Europe around the 11th century, gained some popularity in 14th-century Italy thanks to pasta, and slowly made their way across Europe. But they weren't always welcome. Many considered them unnecessary.
In America, forks became commonplace only in the late 18th to early 19th century. Before that, early colonists mostly used spoons... and hands. That's right. Hand-eating was once done by Americans themselves.
Formal dining etiquette, and the cutlery obsession that came with it, was largely a classist invention. In medieval and Renaissance Europe, aristocrats used forks and knives as markers of sophistication.
Manuals like The Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione outlined elite table manners to separate the wealthy from the working class. Today, you can spot these 'royalty' people teaching on social media on the 'right' way to eat food items.
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Anyhoo, back to history. As the middle class grew, they mimicked the nobility, adopting these customs to climb the social ladder. In the US, women played a major role in establishing table etiquette within families, helping normalise cutlery use among the middle class.
Distinctively, Americans developed a fork-switching method (cutting with the knife in the right hand, then switching the fork over to eat) a practice celebrated as uniquely "American".
In contrast, Indian dining didn't evolve as a display of wealth or class but as an expression of spirituality and culture. Eating with hands wasn't about status - it was about sustenance.
What About Chopsticks?
And then there are chopsticks. Slender sticks of wood or metal that have travelled across continents to become symbols of elegance and finesse. Originally developed in China over 3,000 years ago, chopsticks were first used for cooking and serving. By around 400 AD, they evolved into the main utensil for eating, spreading to neighbouring countries like Japan, Korea and Vietnam. But much like the fork in Europe, chopsticks were once a marker of sophistication and class, associated with refined etiquette and deeply rooted cultural values.
In Japan, chopsticks (hashi) are more than just tools, they're part of a dining philosophy. From the way food is prepared into bite-sized pieces to the rules about how you rest your chopsticks between bites, every gesture reflects mindfulness and respect for the meal.
Using them incorrectly, like pointing them at someone or sticking them upright in a bowl of rice, is considered not only rude but spiritually inappropriate, as it mimics funeral rituals.
In Korea, the tradition is different. Chopsticks are often made of metal, and they're used alongside a spoon, a practice believed to have originated in royal court dining. Meals are communal, laid out with many side dishes, and using both chopsticks and a spoon ensures shared food is handled delicately and respectfully.
Today, chopsticks have shed their once "exotic" label in the West and are now celebrated as markers of taste and cosmopolitan flair. From sushi restaurants, ramen bars, to pan-Asian fine dining spots.
Religion Too
Now, back to our fork, knife, spoon and eating with hands debate. Out of everything else, religion too played a significant role in promoting eating with hands.
The right hand holds a significant place in Indian cultural beliefs and practices, deeply intertwined with many religious rituals and traditions. It is customary for Indians to use their right hand not only for eating but also for a variety of auspicious activities (like sharing prasad or applying tilak or giving blessing). This stems from a shared belief system where the right hand is considered pure, representing good deeds and positive intentions.
This tradition is rooted in several religions in India, including Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Jainism.
The left hand, on the other hand, is traditionally viewed as impure, often reserved for tasks associated with personal hygiene.
Let's Talk Dirty: The Matters Of Hygiene
The only argument that the people who are calling eating with hands seem to be clinging to is hygiene. However, according to cultural anthropologist Dr Aditi Verma, "In Indian society, dining practices are not just about satisfying hunger; they are symbols of the society's broader perception of cleanliness and respect."
Washing hands before and after the meals were also practiced as a tradition, which by the way, eliminates the question of hygiene.
In every gesture made with the right hand, there lies a respect for the spiritual and physical purity that Indian culture holds dear. The influence of these beliefs extends beyond the dining table into daily life.
For instance, when exchanging goods or money, or even shaking hands, many Indians still prefer using their right hand, as a gesture of goodwill. As urban lifestyles evolve, there has been a slight shift away from these customs, but they remain a vital element of cultural identity and heritage, especially in traditional communities.
So, hand, knife, fork, spoon or chopsticks - whatever you want to use, the bottom line is this: people should be able to eat the way they want to without being subjected to racism, ridicule or mockery. Especially not for enjoying a plate of biryani the way it's meant to be eaten - by licking your fingers clean.