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Most Indians simply relish food a lot more when they eat it with their hands.
So, when Indian business tycoon Anand Mahindra tweeted a photo of idlis - a dish that is often eaten with hands - served on ice-cream sticks, it had netizens divided in India.
"Bengaluru, India's innovation capital, can't stop its creativity from manifesting itself in the most unexpected areas… Idli on a stick - sambar and chutney as dips…Those in favour, those against?? tweeted Mr Mahindra, who has more than 8.5 million followers on Twitter.
The tweet garnered more than 26,000 likes within a day and was retweeted more than 1,400 times.
While many marvelled at the innovative idea of serving idlis on ice-cream sticks, several others expressed their displeasure.
"Totally against it...eating Idli with bare hand is the real tradition... this is sick," wrote a user.
"Indian food is best eaten with hands only. Anything else is criminal," pointed out another.
"Awesome idea. Btw, thank goodness it's an Idli. I initially thought that was a vanilla ice cream being dipped in sambar, which gave me a nightmare!" commented a third.
Another user responded: "Poor Idli. But, when rice and bread can be made in many innovative ways... why can't Idli be modernised and reformed.
"After all why should bread have all the fun. Jokes apart, I think innovation is the key to growth and kids gonna love this."
Reacting to Mr Mahindra's tweet, politician Shashi Tharoor wrote: "Absurd but practical!"
Others pointed out how this might be a great on-the-go snack or how it could save water or manpower needed to wash spoons and plates.
"While we complain about the shape and the way we eat it, we must always know that this methodology saves some water by not having to wash our hands which we usually do after eating idli," said @gajeshkr.
The netizens also attempted to name the new innovation as Candydly, Idli Pop and Idlicles.
A few days later, another business tycoon, Mr Harsh Goenka, shared a video that showed strawberry and chocolate being added to the beloved Indian samosa. It made many cringe.
"Seeing the lollipop idli circulating in social media was ok, but this one?" Mr Goenka wrote along with two screaming emoticons.
A Twitter user wrote: "There should be a law against such fusion food."
Another said: "I just can't experiment at this level! Someone will soon come up with a non-spiral jalebi or cheesy kachori (a spicy deep-fried snack)!"
Indo-Asian News Service
