[Dan Wood]

What in terms of the mixed Indian culture is considered acceptable and what is not?

[priya]

Welcome to the Tree Dan.........

Your question is a bit vague.  Are you referring to dress code, public displays of affection visiting temples........

[H.Nick]

...Are you referring to Hindu culture, Muslim culture etc?

...Modern, Orthodox?

...In the home, visiting a temple, in a restaurant?

[captmahajan]

what is acceptable depends on where you are, and with whom.
---

"culture is what the butcher would do if he was a surgeon"
-- forgot who said that.

[cyberhippie]

Suffice to say you'll get to grips with the local customs, as varied as they are, as you go, traditional India now lives alongside a more modern and free middle class. So what swings it in one place, may be frowned upon in others! Taking your shoes off before entering a temple is pretty ubiquitous, as is eating with your right hand. Other than that, it varies from place to place some places will frown upon shorts on men others won't give a hoot. As whities I've found the Indians cut us a lot of slack in our ignorence so don't dwell on this subject too long, Indian's are also not backward about coming forward, so if you make a faux pas someone will let you know!!

Remember humility goes a long way whilst visiting other countries, so a good attitude will find most of your trespasses forgiven!!

[john.sw]

Common courtesy goes a long way in India as in the rest of the world.

You'll stand out in a crowd just because you're foreign, so go with the flow and, when in Rome, do as Rome does!

[StellaP]

cyberhippie, on Aug 9 2006, 08:06 PM, said:

Taking your shoes off before entering a temple is pretty ubiquitous, as is eating with your right hand.

Glad this has been brought up, as it's something I'm worried about.
I am very left handed, I mean very. I'm trying to train myself to eat right handed but it is so unnatural to me (trying to undo 29 years of behaviour in 9 months) that I know that, even if I try very hard, at some point during 2 and a half weeks I will lapse (or get fed up of dropping my food).

How offended will people be? Would they not be more offended by me looking like a toddler learning to feed itself? Maybe I should buy some bibs
.
I don't expect to be eating in private homes, it'll be cafes and restaurants.
I really hope that I'm getting myself wound up over nothing. It is something I'm concious of and the only thing that gives me concern for my trip (it gave me concern before my trips to Egypt & Tunisia, on both trips I gave up trying to sit on my left hand and used it without any obvious disdain from restaurant owners or fellow diners).

[Casey]

I am left handed and never noticed anyone taking offence to my use of left hand. Only once was I instructed not to take a small pyramid with the Sai Baba on it with my left hand.  I was like you, initially attempting to be cautious, but overall, didn't feel it caused any problems.  Generally, I didn't touch anyone elses food, so there wasn't much of a problem.  If I was digging into a communal dish I would be more cautious, otherwise, my food just touched my hand, my mouth, or my spoon and knife.

[H.Nick]

StellaP... if you are not used to eating with your hand you are going to look like a toddler learning to eat anyway!!!

I thought I was getting quite good at it and refused a spoon at a friend's house: she giggled as she watched me eat!

[StellaP]

H.Nick, on Aug 10 2006, 12:58 PM, said:

StellaP... if you are not used to eating with your hand you are going to look like a toddler learning to eat anyway!!!

I thought I was getting quite good at it and refused a spoon at a friend's house: she giggled as she watched me eat!

Brought up in Birmingham with Indian friends, favourite food is curry, very used to eating with my (left) hand, but getting this clumsy thing at the end of my right hand to work is proving tricky, even typing this post I'm noticing how little I use it, and I'm quite a fast typist. I use it for p o l i @ etc but anything further left gets typed with my left.

Thanks for the moral support Casey & Nick

[kavindra]

StellaP, on Aug 9 2006, 10:45 PM, said:

I am very left handed, I mean very. I'm trying to train myself to eat right handed but it is so unnatural to me (trying to undo 29 years of behaviour in 9 months) that I know that, even if I try very hard, at some point during 2 and a half weeks I will lapse (or get fed up of dropping my food).

How offended will people be? Would they not be more offended by me looking like a toddler learning to feed itself?

StellaP - As someone who spent first 23 years of my life in a regular, relatively orthodox family in India, I find the concern about the left-handed eating business way too overblown in the 'culturally sensitive visitor' community. Now if you were angling to become a priestess in a temple, it might be a problem. Otherwise, I'd not waste a single breath over it. Extrapolating from my wife's experience, as a foreigher, woman and white (I presume) you'll definitely get stares anyway - whether you use right hand or left for eating etc.

My advice would be to dress conservatively, be polite but firm, drop this issue from your 'to be concerned about' list and enjoy your trip!

[PIC]

StellaP, on Aug 10 2006, 10:10 PM, said:

Brought up in Birmingham with Indian friends, favourite food is curry, very used to eating with my (left) hand, but getting this clumsy thing at the end of my right hand to work is proving tricky, even typing this post I'm noticing how little I use it, and I'm quite a feast typist. I use it for p o l i @ etc but anything further left gets typed with my left.

Thanks for the moral support Casey & Nick

I am left handed, my aunt is left handed, my cousin is left handed and we are all Indian. Many times people will ask you if you are left handed at the maximum but not force you to eat with either. Just make sure you don't take anything offered in a temple with your left hand and do not give or take money with your left hand. Whether you eat it with your left or right however is upto you

Secondly in order to avoid this situation of being told to bring my right hand forward especially in temples I use both my hands which is safer and has no repurcussions.

Edited by PIC, 20 August 2006 - 12:02 PM.

[Snowcrab]

Use a spoon. The left hand is suposed to be used only for toilet functions that's why you don't want to touch food, money or anything you might pass to anyone else. But an eating utensil keeps your hand away from the food. Right handed people eating with their fingers still use their left hand to pick up their cup.

[PIC]

Snowcrab, on Aug 31 2006, 05:53 PM, said:

Use a spoon. The left hand is suposed to be used only for toilet functions that's why you don't want to touch food, money or anything you might pass to anyone else. But an eating utensil keeps your hand away from the food. Right handed people eating with their fingers still use their left hand to pick up their cup.

Actually when you are left handed you land up doing those things in your right hand. Secondly regarding your second answer - isn't it obvious that if your right hand is full of food you land up using your right to pick anything up - same with right handers - its common sense.

Till date - I haven't had anyone forcing me to eat in my right hand or to use a spoon unless my hand was injured but curiosity always kills the cat so many do ask questions like do you write in left, are you left handed etc etc. But then even with a spoon you will be asked these questions because invariably lifting spoon in left hand is as good as eating with the left.

Lastly because your hands are dirty you are expected to wash you hands (and sometimes legs) before eating food. This has nothing to do with your toilet habits.

Pity that very few understand the reversal of roles most of the time in case of a left handed person.

Edited by PIC, 31 August 2006 - 03:45 PM.

[priya]

I am also VERY left-handed, but have managed to adapt to eating with my right-hand.  It was difficult at first, but now I think I'm quite a dab hand at it

OT - Left-handed people are handicapped tho - using keys, scissors, some knives to name a few, but we've had to adapt ourselves to a right-handed world.  We are also considered more intelligent!!!

[Snowcrab]

Even being right handed some eating practices in the south in particular get tricky. In the south you are even expected to tear your chapphi one handed, took me a while to get the hang of pinning the thing down with three fingers and tearing a bit off with the other two! I imagine that would be torture for a lefty.

[PIC]

Quote

Even being right handed some eating practices in the south in particular get tricky. In the south you are even expected to tear your chapphi one handed, took me a while to get the hang of pinning the thing down with three fingers and tearing a bit off with the other two! I imagine that would be torture for a lefty.

Not at all - I will be happy to show you doing it with either hand although I am left handed. And by the way its not a practice of the south - its the practice all over the country to tear chapatti with one hand.

Its only hard for a newbie - simply put it will be hard for me to eat with a chopstick until I learn the technique - otherwise it will be torture.