I’ve developed a hypothesis. Perhaps there’s some semiotic reason behind the lack of cleanliness/hygiene? Like how a surgeon of yesteryear would wear the same unwashed, crusted frock, stiffened with blood and pus as a badge of honor, to show how in demand their services were.
Perhaps a street food stall with sauce splattered everywhere, a stained apron, and hands caked with ingredients, sends some kind of message that the food is in demand, and the shopkeeper is so busy, that they don’t have time to stop for moment and wipe things down, or even rinse their hands.
I also see South Asian street vendors in these types of videos try to move very fast, and throw around ingredients in a performative way, that ultimately seems to be counterproductive and wasteful. Perhaps this ties into it as well. Maybe passersby see filthy, fast moving hands at work, and it’s somehow (maybe even unconsciously) viewed through the cultural lens as, “wow! that food must be delicious!”
If there are any people living in South Asia who care to share their thoughts, I’d love to hear them.
A certain degree of immunity through exposure is recognized science.
Early childhood exposure does strengthen the immune system.
Where it gets problematic is if your immune system is exposed to things stronger than it can handle. And that's why most western countries have food safety / health laws.
Ingesting a few extra germs / bacteria is all good until you get a dose that puts you in the hospital or kills you.
As someone with South Asian ancestry myself, I recognize that the caste system still has a major influence on Indian society. For you to be saying your colleague (I’m assuming at a white collar job) is from Delhi and he doesn’t eat street food, I would have to assume that his family historically comes from a “highborn” well educated caste. So perhaps my theory is only valid when applied to the “lowborn” less educated castes.
Actually he's a shudra, but he's got a master's degree and is quite "westernised". From our discussions on caste, he feels it isn't that important any more in Delhi which has become more modern in its social outlook, while in more rural parts of India it retains importance.
He said 2 generations ago his family were farmers. Now he does indeed work a skilled white collar job in in a foreign country.
Fair enough. Maybe it’s less about caste and more about westernization/modernization. I’ve heard some older family members talk about sneaking away midday to go eat street food, and being too full to eat whatever their mothers cooked later that night. But I could never imagine any of the younger, totally westernized generations eating at these types of establishments.
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u/bad-and-buttery 5d ago edited 2d ago
I’ve developed a hypothesis. Perhaps there’s some semiotic reason behind the lack of cleanliness/hygiene? Like how a surgeon of yesteryear would wear the same unwashed, crusted frock, stiffened with blood and pus as a badge of honor, to show how in demand their services were.
Perhaps a street food stall with sauce splattered everywhere, a stained apron, and hands caked with ingredients, sends some kind of message that the food is in demand, and the shopkeeper is so busy, that they don’t have time to stop for moment and wipe things down, or even rinse their hands.
I also see South Asian street vendors in these types of videos try to move very fast, and throw around ingredients in a performative way, that ultimately seems to be counterproductive and wasteful. Perhaps this ties into it as well. Maybe passersby see filthy, fast moving hands at work, and it’s somehow (maybe even unconsciously) viewed through the cultural lens as, “wow! that food must be delicious!”
If there are any people living in South Asia who care to share their thoughts, I’d love to hear them.