On 6/9/09, Indrajit Gupta <bonoba...@yahoo.co.in> wrote: > > The South Indians were > > extremely particular about the use of right hand. > > > > -- Raj Shekhar
only SIs ate with their left hands limp to the side, whereas they, > red-blooded and, er, earthy Punjabis, used both hands to get at their food, > and wouldn't have hesitated to use their feet either if required. Their > statement. > This is one of the few practices for which I have found a logical and valid reason. Since Indians use water and not toilet paper, the left hand is used for such cleaning and hence never used for ingestion. Over a period of years, by association, the left hand has become "unclean" and is never used for accepting anything from anyone. There's even a superstition that if you accept money with your left hand, you might lose it (er, not in the toilet, but...) If you put down something with your left hand, you will not remember where you kept it....when you are searching for something, you are likely to hear (if you are from a TamBram family), "You must have put it down with your left hand". The left hand is, indeed, denoted by the appellation "peeccha kai" (I certainly don't have to translate that)...and using it for food, writing, accepting gifts, and handing things to people, is frowned upon. Thaths, Udhay...what's your input on this? Did you, when you were growing up, find this anti-southpaw bias? Deepa.
