The woman is the anchor of the house. There is no doubt about this. And when she hums in the kitchen while she is cooking the food for the family, we know the food will be blessed with positive vibes. Temple prasadam too is blessed with divine vibrations. That is why it has such a unique flavor.

A lot of effort goes into rustling up every single meal. Fresh seasonal ingredients are sourced from the local markets. They are cleaned carefully and stored properly. Every meal is prepared with a lot of love and care. The individual preference of each family member is always kept in mind while cooking.

The aromas tantalize the taste buds. Our mouths start watering when we see and smell the food that is cooking in the kitchen. Our taste buds are stimulated. Our digestive juices have already started working. And the entire family assembles together to eat their meal.

Banana leaves are spread on the floor. All the dishes are served one by one beginning with the crispies. Even the simplest traditional Indian meal will have at least five different complementary dishes. A complete highly nutritious balanced meal is relished when it is served on a banana leaf. The piping hot meal is eaten in silence amidst loving family members. 

Yes, food cooked and served with love can create bliss in our hearts and souls – there is no doubt about it!

The soft round creamish brown rotis have a grainy feel. The ghee glistens on the hot roti and the aroma is heady. The sabji is a happy medley of green, yellow and red spices. It is tender and succulent and hot. The dal is fragrant and has just been garnished with fresh coriander and curry leaves. We gingerly dip the hot roti into the steaming hot cup of dal. It is nice and hot and we wait for it to cool a bit. We roll the roti around a little bit of the sabji and start eating with our hands. The salad is crunchy and tangy. The raita is refreshingly cool. The steaming bowl of plain rice is served after a while along with some crisply roasted papad. The rice is soft, luscious and long grained. We separate the grains of the rice on the banana leaf and pour the dal over it. We mix it using our hands and slurp the dal bhaat off our fingers. The pickle lends a spicy taste to the hot meal. The slice of lemon is finally squeezed into the cup of buttermilk. The buttermilk has been garnished with roasted jeera powder and a generous dash of asafoetida.

“See. Come here. Smell my fingers. The dal was superb and the sabji was too good. I love the parathas ma makes for us. The aromas linger on my fingers till dinner time!” said one naïve child. 

Yes. Food can connect the body, soul, heart, and mind and transport us to another realm altogether. When we eat with our hands, we consciously bring about this connection. 

Here are some interesting facts that are worth thinking about.

It is believed that all the five natural elements exist on the tips of our fingers. The thumb represents the element of Agni or fire. The index finger represents the element of Vayu or air. The middle finger represents Akash or space. The ring finger represents Dharti or earth. The little finger represents Jal or water. 

When we eat with our hands, the negative energies around the food get dissipated. The food is now blessed with positive energy in it just like the temple prasadam and is bound to nourish our body and soul.

The same thing happens when the food is prepared at home in a hygienic, clean kitchen with a lot of love. That is why it is so important that the food is cooked with love. That is why we feel so happy and satisfied after eating a simple meal at home. That is why we miss home-made food when we go on a trip or live away from home. The food that we eat outside of our homes may be exotic. It may even be prepared in a clean environment using the freshest of ingredients. We may love it for a change and even relish it. But we cannot eat this yummy outside food regularly.

The body-soul-heart-mind connection cannot be made when we use gleaming cutlery to eat our food. We can feel the texture of the food, smell the aroma of the food, gauge the temperature of the food only when we touch the food with our hands and eat it with our fingers.

Yet we see people eating masala dosas and sambhar with a knife, fork and a spoon. We do it in the name of dining etiquette and table manners. The focus has shifted completely now. Instead of eating the food cooked with love and relishing it, we are more concerned the impression that we are making on others. We don’t want to look like village bumpkins in fancy restaurants or theme weddings or grand parties.So we will stand for hours with heavy plates in our hands and scald our tongues eating piping hot greasy noodles with a fork. Since we use one hand to hold our plate, we end up using a spoon to eat our meal. And since we cannot eat all the dishes with a spoon we will end up using our fingers to eat the food on the plate.

Our eyes are constantly looking out for a chair and a table where we can sit down and enjoy the food along with the company. And we are relieved and happy when we get a table in the crowded party hall. The crowd of people eyes one another slowly and carefully. Everyone seems to have discarded the cutlery. The menu was designed with so much foresight and care. The food deserves total attention.

The tables and chairs are moved aside. Long mats are rolled on the freshly cleaned floor. Banana leaves are sourced in a jiffy from the nearby suburban market. The family members and a few guests pitch in and the food is served to all the guests who are now seated on the floor. The cutlery is discarded and the focus has shifted to enjoying the scrumptious meal with family members who have traveled great distances to grace the occasion. Every single guest relishes the food by eating with his/her hands. 

Yes. Good food has this astonishing ability to connect people too.

Good food could connect the entire extended family on this auspicious occasion. They have met after almost 2 decades. And they all laugh and crack jokes and make merry for hours together while feasting on the food with the lip-smacking finger licking scrumptious food. 

Yes, good food can create great memories too. Good food can create bonds of love. Good food can forge new bonds of love too. If good food can connect the body-mind-soul-heart…….it can surely forge and reinforce bonds of love. 

And we thought that only village bumpkins ate their food with their hands. Sometimes, in being entirely human we do get carried away by the culture of other countries. But our intuition and our common sense and the value of our rich traditions always guide us back to the right path. Always!!!