the importance of Curd(Youghurt) :)

Hi,
today, during lunch, we had a very interesting discussion. why do south Indians eat loads of curd?
hmmm...not sure who discovered this or how he/she discovered this but even I never realized that south Indians eat lots of curd.
But yeah...we do....reasons...let me guess..
curd is supposed to be a very rich food for us. Curd, along with milk, are considered to be the very symbols of prosperity. Since owing livestock was very common in those days, people always had milk and curd in their homes.

Apart from this, there are some other reasons as well. Curd is supposed to be one of the 'pancamrtas' (Five forms of ambrosia, namely, sugar, curd, milk, honey and ghee). It is considered as food of gods and so, really sacred. Hence, is its importance.
Also, curd is used in many places for treating ailments. Crud is believed to have lot many medicinal properties and hence, the belief is that the more you eat, the better your health will be.
There are many people even today who feel that their meal would be incomplete with out curd (I'm one amongst them :))
.. for me, curd is a must..)
I remember, when I went to my village last year, we invited a few close friends for a dinner. Since my grand mother did not plan for this dinner, we did not have enough curd in the home. So, we thought we would dilute the curd with some water so that it could be served to everyone. You would not believe me, not even a single person ate that curd. When asked about the reason, they told us ' How do you think we could eat such a curd? Its so dilute. Leave it. We'll have it at our homes' . I was like 'What? you make a scene just for some curd??'. Nyways, later, I realized that its not just the matter of habit but also the matter of social status...
So, thats a shot narration about curd and its importance in south india...
hope you enjoyed this
Luv