Indian People eat with their hands still', this comment by Oprah Winfrey came as a controversy for Indians.

We quizzed our telly celebs on the same : do they think the age old tradition of eating food should be given up just because westernization is engulfing the country? And also on why is it referred to as a 'Messy eating habit or a messy person' when you eat with your hands and not with a fork and a knife?

Let's have a look at what they had to say on the same:

Shrenu Parikh: Well, according to me nothing is tastier than mom feeding me with her hands...At home with friends I eat like the so called "messy person" . But that doesn't mean we don't know
 how to act in a sophisticated fashion... I don't think westernization has affected my values!

Rubina Dilaik: Till date, I eat with my hands as I relish the taste! Food is very important and our body corresponds to it the way we eat! All the senses should be alert when we eat, eyes should see the color , nose should smell the food, hands should feel the food and finally eat and savor the taste with the tongue. So eating with hands adds value to the food ! And in return gives full nutrition to the body.

Romit Raj: I feel we should continue with our tradition of eating with our hands, Biryani cannot be enjoyed with a spoon or for that matter Indian food...
But yes continental food cannot be enjoyed without forks or spoon. I feel when in Rome do as the Romans do..Be proud of our culture and not think we are messy if we eat with our hands.

Angad Hasija: I don't agree. There is nothing wrong in eating with our hands. Some things like dal-chawal with lots of ghee taste best when you eat with your hands. It is our culture. Pasta can be eaten with forks and all. The way we Indians eat is perfect and we need not copy the West. We are well-rooted in our culture.There is nothing messy about it. You can't eat paratha's with a fork can you?

Narayani Shastri:We Indians use our hands to eat food and find nothing bad in it. But people following the trend of Western culture makes no sense to me. You should be comfortable with your eating habits, people follow the western culture because they are used to it, and there is no harm either. It doesn't mean that you are 'Messy' if you eat with your hands.

Divyanka Tripathy: Absolutely not! One should be comfortable at least while eating food. One should live not being burdened by the thought of what people will think…

So this leaves us with the conclusion that however you eat be it the Indian or the Western style, you should be comfortable in it.Comfort is more important than to follow a trend.

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Reporter and Author:Krishma Solanki.