Are you superstitious?

India is home to many superstitious beliefs. And the beliefs have been passed through generations.

People often visit temples for a pass in an examination, a job in the government and to find a perfect match for a hand in marriage.

And the god(s) don’t disappoint us. He will bless the newly married with children and give the elderly a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis.

We allow numerology a big say. We add alphabets liberally in names and call our children ‘Praggyaananndhaa’ and ‘Nitthiyaananndhaa’. All in the name of bringing luck!

We bang utensils, light lamps and sing prayers to ward off a killer epidemic as deadly as COVID-19.

Many in Mumbai took a day off from work when word spread in 1995 that one of our Hindu gods drank milk. I carried a can of milk and stood in a mile-long queue.

As COVID-19 was sweeping the country, a baba announced that he had found medicine to cure corona. The ministers and the officials jumped with joy. They called the PRESS to announce the new discovery. All in a day.

Tying threads, wearing an amulet, rings on all fingers, sporting a beard and consulting an astrologer for as noble a mission as winning in cricket are part of one’s growing up here.

We don’t visit a hairdresser on Tuesdays, nor do we eat during the Lunar Eclipse, sorry! 

Jet-fighters, Rafael, from France, were put to a tough test as officials placed lemons under the tires of the flying-machine and rolled.

No menstruating girls can enter inside the temples as our ancestors believed the act would bring evil-spells.

And we believe man goes through seven births in life, before his soul gets fully liberated. You don’t live just once in this part of the Earth.

Bless me, please. I just sneezed.

Thank you.