1/. Belief: If you are sweeping floor at night, you might be chasing away the Goddess of luck and wealth.
Logic: In olden days, the villages didn’t have electricity and were dependent on oil lamps. So sweeping the floor at night might as well result in losing something precious (jewellery, money and so on) due to lack of light. Money as well as the ornaments are considered as Goddess Lakshmi. Hence the belief that sweeping at night would chase away Goddess Lakshmi.
2/. Belief: Own a broken mirror? Throw it away before it brings you misfortune by just looking at it. You might as well start a quarrel for no good reason.
Logic: It all started with the Romans, who created the glass mirrors. The belief is so that if the mirror has the power to reflect any mortal being, then it can also seize a human soul. Other belief is so that it was simply said to avoid accidental cuts by the broken mirror.
3/. Belief: If a black cat crosses your way, just turn around and take another way. If not return to where you came from or else walking that way might bring you bad luck.
Logic: Cats belong to the biological families of Tigers, Leopard and Jaguars. The belief started as earlier, the only mode of transportation was through carts driven by horses, bullocks etc and the journey consisted of dense jungles. So if a cat (Tigers, Leopard, Jaguars and so on) came on the way, the cart driver would stop the cart so that the cart riding animals don’t panic. Over a period of time, the logic evolved and consequently people today dread the black cat crossing the road.
4/. Belief: Don’t cut your nails after sunset as you might be inviting bad luck for yourself
Logic: Earlier, there was no such tools as nail cutter or scissors for the purpose of cutting nails. The use of knives were prelevant and the only source of light was the oil lamps. Thus cutting nails at night in a dim light resulted in higher chances of cutting ones finger. Also there are chances of the broken nails falling in the food and finally causing illness.
5/. Belief: No. 13 is so evil that most of the hotel rooms don’t even have room no 13.
Logic: There are many reasons behind this belief starting with Judas being the thirteenth member in the supper who betrayed Lord Jesus. Another reason is numerologists consider the number 12 a complete number for several reasons making 13 the odd number. On the contrary the worshippers of Lord Shiva consider it lucky and offer prayers to him on the thirteenth day of every month. The person who worships Lord Shiva on this day is blessed with wealth, children, happiness and prosperity.
6/. Belief: Only a black distinctive spot of Kohl (Kajal in Hindi) may protect you from the “evil eye”.
Logic: In Indian culture, it is common for every family to put a black dot (Kohl) in their baby’s forehead or behind their ear. This is done to ward off the evil eye and is known as “Nazar Utarna”. It is believed that the black spot takes in all the negative effect of the evil eye.
7/. Belief: “Teen tigada kaam bigada” meaning bad luck comes when three people or three object are together.
Logic: It basically started with the belief that two is better than one but three would be extra. So it is believed that three people together attracts bad luck.
8/. Belief: During weddings, festivals or any other ceremony, it is considered auspicious to add one rupee coin to the amount to be given.
Logic: It all started as the Indians believe that giving a sum ending with zero symbolizes the end of all transactions. However, adding one rupee connotes continuity and the hope of future exchanges. Here’s how the lone rupee is a symbolic sign of debt to the receiver which complies them to meet someday and pay back the debt.
9/. Belief: Need a haircut? Maybe you can do it on the weekend or wait until Wednesday because you might as well reduce your life span by cutting your hair on Tuesday.
Logic: Majority of the Indian population were farmers since the early days. Thus after a week full of hard work Mondays were meant for resting when they did not get into farms and cleaned their houses and got haircuts. Because of this, the barber shops were mostly with no crowd on Tuesdays and hence remained shut. This tradition over a period of time reformed into a superstitious belief.
10/. Belief: Having nightmares? I suggest you to keep a knife under your pillow as it will keep bad dreams and evil spirits away.
Logic: There is no myth behind this. Its just the simple logic of having confidence as you have a weapon to protect yourself if something goes wrong.
11/. Belief: Oh! Your neighbor might just be so jealous of your new house, car or shop. Better hang some chilies and lemon to protect it from their “evil eye”.
Logic: The thread to which the lemon and chilies are sewed, extracts the juice from it and helps to ward off the decease causing insects and flies. So with this there will be no illness or deterioration of belongings, hence keeping away the evil eye.
12/. Belief: Do not give or take anything with left hand, always use right; unless Thakur…….
Logic: This belief is directly in corelation to our traditional practice of respect. Offering money or food with right hand is considered as a symbol of respect.
13/. Belief: This is in fact a sad truth that even today, widows are considered unlucky in some parts of India.
Logic: In Indian culture, patriarchy is highly prevalent speaking about the superiority of the male members of the family. So with the demise of her husband, a woman is barely recognized. Elderly women in the village might call a widow “the one who ate her husband.” She is devoid of wearing ornaments or colourful clothes and is also not allowed to attend functions or festivals. With time though this practice is changing, yet it is vividly prevalent in few parts of rural India.
14/. Belief: It’s a bad omen if someone sneezes right before you go out.
Logic: The myth is similar to a black cat crossing your path. It goes back to a time when there were no vehicles for travelling resulting in a long journey. So if someone sneezed in front of the traveller, there were high chances for him to grasp some diseases. In such a long journey it was difficult to fetch a doctor so they would eventually die because of the bad health.
15/. Belief: An itchy palm? Make sure its the right palm since the legend goes; right itchy palm means you will soon receive money; if your left palm itches, it means that you will lose or have to pay money.
Logic: Palmists believe that when our palm itches, there are certain energy passing through it. Our right hand is more active compared to our left hand ergo it works for achieving something. This means getting paid for those services, meaning, more money! However, an itching left palm means you are on the receptive mode and eventually end up paying for the services.
