Save the Handshake!

A few weeks ago, we decided to try the Balance Café at Oasis Centre. Now, what is so great about a new café, one might wonder, considering the umpteen cafés we already have in Dubai.  Well, this one is supposed to be based on the principles of Ayurveda with the menu crafted under the supervision of Chef Sumit Kumar from the renowned wellbeing destination ‘Ananda in the Himalayas’.

So, we decided to give it a go.  Since we were just two, we chose a table for two on the side- not that we had much choice, the place was already packed with hungry patrons! It was while waiting for our order to arrive that I noticed someone. He did not look even a tiny bit familiar…he was sitting at a large table in the centre, with his back to the main entrance, entertaining a few guests that afternoon. As the lunch hour progressed, larger groups of people started coming in, and they all looked like they worked somewhere close by. While some came in smaller groups of 3 and 4, others came in larger groups as if it was an office lunch or something.

 A lot of them would come in, recognise the gentleman from the back, and proceed to shake hands with him; occasionally hugging the other guests too.  It was at that point that I guessed if the gentleman who was sitting at right angle and a few tables away from us, was  Mr Micky Jagtiani (Chairman, Landmark Group and reported as the Gulf’s richest Indian and  one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East retail industry- http://www.arabianbusiness.com/) himself?   Irrespective, it was a good thing he was eating with his left hand…he would have to wash his hands mid munch at least 20 times by then otherwise.

I realised at that very moment what I would remember the most from that afternoon there… not the balanced food, nor the unwanted overpriced bottle of local water, not even the menu catering to  dietary restrictions…no…instead, it would be seeing him shaking hands with the right hand, and eating with the left, and wondering about our own intrusive habits.

Why do we really shake hands with someone when they are having their food- be it at a party, a social gathering, an office lunch, or an unexpected bump at a restaurant…anywhere? Of course, if you were only using the fork and the knife, it would not be so bad…but it would be neater and nicer to be left alone to enjoy the food, to eat with clean hands rather than having to shake it mid-meal with hands that might have just been sneezed or coughed into, or unwashed after a visit to the toilet, or worse…

It is for the same reason I wonder why the restaurants do not offer wipes/ finger bowls before beginning to serve the food…just in case there is no wash room around and the patrons need to wash their hands before eating (I would certainly want to if i am coming there after shopping/ working/ from anywhere!).  And, even if you were using just a fork and a knife and not your hands as in the traditional Indian fare, you might still need your hands to break that bread on the side plate!

Is it anywhere on the book of good manners? Because it should be!!!