Strange superstitions: The intervention of tradition and science results in the questioning of age-old practices

Rachana Ramesh

I ndia is a country where traditions breathe simultaneously to global technology. We constantly find ourselves at the junction where these two meet, most times in the state of being restless but sometimes nonchalant. This intervention results in the questioning of the age-old practises, and the consciousness of those who accept and practice them unquestionably. It is certainly important to question traditions with logic to prevent a society from slowly slipping into anarchy but it is also equally important to examine the answers and look for reasons that may have motivated them.

Time and again, attempts have been made to prove that the rituals we label as superstitions were once carefully thought scientific procedures. With the passage of time and progress in development of a hierarchical society, this knowledge turned arcane and only the rituals were propagated and not the reasoning behind them.

gated and not the reasoning behind them. “If you are on your period and you touch a plant, the plant will die,” Aditi giggled at the absurdity of the statement as she uttered the most bizzare superstition she has come across. With periods come cramps, mood swings and a heavy flow. In addition to all these physical feelings, there is also a list of superstitious beliefs that come with menstruation. During their periods, girls are considered impure and are restricted from cooking or visiting sacred places.

They are also often made to sleep in a separate area or in an entirely different room. There also exists a myth that any form of physical activity can disturb the menstrual flow.

There is no logical justification to most of these superstitions. However, the first sanitary pads were invented in the year 1896, while commercial painkillers like Meftal were not available for the 20th century. One of the possible explanations may be that before the invention of sanitary pads and meftal, the five stressful days of menstruation which entail cramps and other forms of pain were dealt with by Indian medicines. It would be a comprehensible situation if women did not work during those days because of discomfort and this gradually turned into a ritual and degraded to the form of a superstition.

“They say that if slippers are upside down in a house, it usually leads to a fight,” says Riju about his encounter with an illogical superstition. “There might be logic in the situation that they want to avoid but the reason they give is laughable. So they form up stories to implement it. This world is made and ruled because of stories afterall,” he concluded.

all,” he concluded. One of the most commonly witnessed and normalised out of all the illogical superstitions is the one where the cat crosses the road. While a few consider this a bad omen only when the colour of the feline is black, many believe in this superstition unfiltered. This popular belief is not only restricted to India but is widely held in the west too. The origin of this superstition takes us back to the Egyptians who believed that black cats were evil creatures and they brought bad luck. In India however, the colour is black is often associated with Lord Shani – the god of justice, a popular deity Hindus pray to ward off evil and obstacles from life. Acc o r d i n g t o Hindu mythology, he rewards or punishes people for their deeds.

“The worst of them all is the cat crossing the road,” says Nitin. It is said that if a black cat crosses your path, then you should let somebody else pass the lane before you do. This way, the person who passes first will be the receiver of bad luck and not you.

“No cutting hair and nails after sunset or inside the home. There is another addition – not on Fridays,” Nitin says is the one that makes the most sense. Nail clippers were sharp blades that required precision and an adequate amount of light in the absence of which one had all the possibility to get an injury. The tradition may seem outlandish in today’s world with modern technological developments, however, back in the days it must have saved many their fingers and the phase of a bad haircut.

From breaking mirrors to hanging lemons along with chillies, India is a country full of diverse culture and tradition, which come with their share of superstitions. We witness them all around us each day – a black cat crosses the path and like a statue, the person freezes until another person passes first. While some have logical justifications, many are blindly followed. It is important to question these time and again, and to delve in the answers that come up with logic.