Can you imagine how superstitious we are ... think of your normal routine; and now think of all those times in that day when you have said/not said, done/not done something ONLY because it was not the 'right way', or it was not the 'right day', or the 'right time', or the 'right person' or the 'right place' ! And where exactly is this sense of 'right' coming from ... not from our judgement, not from logic but from years of belief ingrained in us. Its not easy to wipe off those lessons, to break off the mould and "THINK" afresh, but I still try to do so sometimes, at the cost of discomfort to myself and others.
For instance ... the other day I was giving my hair a good oil massage with plans of shampooing it the next day when my mother-in-law (MIL) noticed and asked " Why are you applying so much oil today ? Are you planning to take headbath tomorrow ?! " I shrugged and said "Ya! " , knowing fully well what would follow next - " but tomorrow is Saturday ! Girls are supposed to take headbath only on tuesdays and fridays, boys on wednesdays and saturdays".
I simply said I donot believe in these things and was she ever so disappointed in me.
she meekly continued saying " my mother always said money will not stay in the house that doesnot practice this - you just see, you may also have to quit your job! "
Now, this was a real blow - she had hit me where it hurt. Though I didnot believe her one bit, I didnot like the idea of losing my job just for a headbath. So I finally decided, what the hell ... I can still do this on a Sunday and left it at that.
Then there was another day when I had got into an autorichshaw to go to my office ... I was already late and wished he would hurry. We had just about started when a black cat crossed the road right in front of us ... and to my utter surprise, the driver stepped on the brakes and screeched the auto to a halt, then and there, right in the middle of the road !! I couldn't help but be amazed at his instant reaction - his face was like he had spilt a can of milk. For me, it was just a poor cat taking a walk, for him it was like a day gone down the drain. We halted there a couple of minutes when he muttered prayers to all his dear Gods before we set off again. I wanted to laugh at that man's superstition but checked myself in time ... I have my own too.
For example, I have one dress which is the 'Success dress' - because I happened to clear a job interview while wearing that dress. So for all important days, I wear that dress. If there is one for success, needless to say there is one for 'Failure' - it earned that name when I got a low rating in last year's appraisal. So am wary of when I wear that dress , its only for normal working days. So why don't I get rid of that dress you ask ? Because its not that old and its a nice blue one, I think I will risk it for some more time :)
One of my friends entertained us for a week with daily accounts of how hard her mom was trying to get a "good day and time" for her , to submit her resignation ! She tried to reason saying the time of the mail didnot matter, what mattered more was the time of acceptance, but her mom was not ready to listen. Am still trying to figure why a good time is needed to resign, there is no risk of losing her job as she is leaving it anyway. So what good would it do ? No logical answer.
So where is Science in all this ? beat , kicked and thrown out of the door. And remember, am not talking of any uneducated, naive person here, we are all at the minimum graduates and city-dwellers. Yet our thinking is " Oh so primitive " !
