Spinning superstitious yarns...
This 'n' that
By Renee Ranchan

IT was Lohri that I know... which one of my guests started talking of superstitions that I do not know. But yes, the whole evening was just about superstitions. I guess it had something to do with the bonfire, the foggy sky and the crackling of peanut shells on a dark night. Did you know that peanut covers make a snapping, whacking sound when thrown in fire ? I rather like it. Speaking of likes, I do so much like Lohri. Why can’t it be a bi-annual affair ? It is such a simple, let-loose-your-hair festival. It does not involve the preparation Divali does... I do love Divali but the cleaning exercise at least 10 days prior to it is taxing, do you not think ? Come Divali and the fatigue of operation clean-up catches up with you. A few more in-favour -of-Lohri points before we get started with superstitions. Half an hour besides these orange flames and you acquire the healthiest glow. A pink robust complexion... who could ever tell you to live in a polluted city where stress is your staple diet. This year I made it a point to click a couple of photographs... Frame the healthy glow for posterity ! And did you know the roti made on these flames tastes divine ? The subtle smoky charcoal flavour is unique.

It is funny, we are reaching the end of the millennium and superstitions still abound, flourish and yes, new ones are born all the time. And it’s not only the rural Rip Van Winkle world that swear by them, but our urban society as well. So let’s make a skim-the-milk kind of inventory list of superstitions... here I had better thank my guests, without them I would not have been able to string together more than a couple of superstitions. Yes, and I do believe in one myself... but no, I shall not tell you ! So shall we start from the West and then fly down to our own zone ?

That is how our talk began on that evening of January 13. Did I know in the West, the number 13 was not considered inauspicious ? I nodded my head absent-mindedly while stuffing my mouth with gajjak. Number 13 got the ball rolling.... one reason, explained the scholar amidst us, was that Judas was Christ’s 13th apostle and who does not know about his betrayal. My friend seated next to the scholar, not to be outdone said that she knew for a fact that some airlines and hotels happen to be in so much dread of the number that they obliterate it altogether. (That was news to me !) Encouraged with everyone’s attention she followed this up with a story. A woman checked into a hotel. She was given the key to room number 13. She protested. She was curtly told there was no other room available. With no option (tourist traffic being heavy, other hotels were running full occupancy, she was further informed) the lady took the room. The next morning she was found dead. A heart-attack, the reason cited. The woman must have worried and fretted so much about being in room No 13 that her heart collapsed... this from the scholar. Yes, that made sense ! And did you know that if it is a Friday and also the 13th of the month then it is supposed to be really unlucky ?

What about when a cat crosses your path ? Well, it is about-turn time then. But do we in India not do the same — my query. Yes, said the guest who mentioned the cat business. Who says superstitions cannot overlap ? (Being snubbed by a guest is not a very pleasing experience !)

Here’s a rushed run-down of the rest: do not walk under a ladder, it is said to bring, what else, but bad luck. And a groom should not see his bride in her wedding gown before she makes it to the altar. (If such a situation arises, the only way out is to buy a new attire!) And once the ceremony is over, the bride flings her bouquet backwards to her cheering lady guests... that is the tradition. Whoever catches it, is said to be next in line to marry! I must work in a quick story here: (Yes, this one too was told by the same hotel storyteller !) A much wedded lady — she had been married twice over — was the recipient of a bride’s bouquet. Yes, it landed straight in her lap. Now the lady was in tears... she had wanted, prayed that her present marriage would make true the ‘till death do us part’ vow. But with the bouquet she knew another wedding was in the offing. Her family and her friends tried to tell her not to go senseless with the superstition but no... The lady filed for divorce and yes, even a decade later, still has to find a husband... We all could not help bundling up with laughter.

And surely you must have heard the expression, touch-wood ? (In America it is knock wood, I think) Everytime you count your blessings, it is ‘touch-wood’. You say so and head for the nearest wooden table or door to do so as well. This, to ward off the ‘evil-eye’. Your own included.

Now for us to row to our own waters. The superstitions here are countless, and with varied flavours. If dogs happen to howl at the dead of night, it is time to get up and worry. And do not rest your broom, sweeping side, pointed upwards nor thump a sewing needle into another’s waiting palm (lay it on the table for the person to pick it up) not clink clank your scissors. You know, they should be used for cutting paper or whatever but not for slicing thin air. All these do-not do’s beckon domestic discord. I know a lady who in a candid moment told me she did not believe in the superstitions she adhered to — not shampooing her hair on Thursdays (or was it Tuesdays?), fasting on Tuesdays for the well-being of her family and if anyone asks her where she is going, she answers by tightly pursing her lips. (Such questions are not to be asked or answered !) The lady had worked out a rationale for her adherence to these superstitions: who was she to break or modify the family’s belief ? A good wife did not do such things !

To back-pedal to my little Lohri gathering, one of my guests — a dear, close relative — made no bones about his beliefs. No, they were not superstitions! The rest of us... well we swore, unconvincingly, that we had not a superstitious bone in the body. Of course, none believed the other. The cousin’s beliefs: if there is a big day or a big project ahead of you, do not leave home without wolfing down a dahi sugar concoction. It was only because of this ‘dish’ that he had managed to do pretty well for himself. And if a train chugs over a bridge he steps on the car’s accelerator so that he drives under it. Good luck, that is what it brings. As a student, after every exam when he was asked how he had done, he would despite doing well, categorically say he had done badly. That saved him from the evil eye. But to return to our list of superstitions. Some ‘beliefs’ happen to flourish because of their pro-male stance. How else can you account for the rural credence of not giving your daughter’s offspring a part of your property? Because there is a saying, Nani’s wealth is thrown into the well by her grandchildren . And if a death in the household coincides with the entry of a bride in the family then it is the poor girl who is unlucky. The solution: Forsake her before she does more harm. Forsaking her dowry, of course, is out of the question. How about the notion that widows bring ill-luck. Misfortune is supposed to befall a person setting out on a journey if he or she happens to see a widow... Tsk, tsk, tsk, what else can you say?

On a lighter note. Sneezing, did you know it is taboo? If you sneeze when an important deal is to be clinched, the whole deal is likely to be called off. A simple sneeze? Vested with such power?

If that is the case, what do you say we try it out — achoo, achoo. And yes, do not forget to cross your fingers, so that things do not completely rip from the seams....