Muda namakalu, there is a sinister sound to the word itself. Some of them are honestly reasonable, if not scientifically sound. Here is a list of them paired with probable reasoning:
1. The sight of a black cat brings bad luck: Our ancestors consider black to be a bad color, as most cultures do. Since black is associated with darkness and darkness with evil, it makes sense. Why only a cat? I don’t know. Maybe, just maybe, the ancestors were dog persons.
2. Broken mirrors or cups bring bad luck: Say what you may, our ancestors are intelligent people and mirrors, expensive. They knew we would turn out lazy, so instead of saying ‘Throw the broken shards of glass because you may hurt yourself’, they said ‘It will bring BAD LUCK.’ Well, it worked, did it not?
3. You should sit or drink water, if you sneeze before going out: Well, it is a scientific fact that sneezing stops the heart from beating, for a millisecond that is. So this superstition might just be our ancestors being careful.
4. Animal sacrifice during festivals: Well, I know this is a touchy subject, but it is inhumane as well. We eat meat, do we also have to enjoy killing an animal to get that meat? Coming to this tradition, it is nothing more than good economic planning. Killing an animal in front of a god pleases him and the meat pleases guests’ appetite. Win-win.
5. Menstruating women are not allowed in temples/kitchens: Okay. When this superstition started taking wind there was no concept of sanitary napkins. Maybe our ancestors were worried about hygiene more than anything. Because how can something that enables childbirth be inauspicious or impure?
6. Crossing a dead body is a good omen: Optimistic people that they were, our ancestors did not let anything make them sad. We celebrate death even through tears because we believe in afterlife and heaven. So, if we see a dead body we are seeing someone who is on his/her way to heaven. That’s good news, is it not? Well.
7. Marrying a squint-eyed woman brings good luck: This one is pretty transparent. Men, no matter how they look, want to marry a pretty woman. This superstition just helps squint-eyed women get married. Serves them right to discriminate in the first place anyway.
8. Left hand out, right hand in: We all know this one, right? We use our left hand to do unsavory things, if you are getting my drift, don’t we? It’s neither cool nor healthy to do anything important with that hand, is it? Wonder what is the case if a person is ambidextrous.
9. Passing salt or eggs from one hand to another is bad luck: I am a klutz and if I am asked to hand someone an egg, I will break it 70% of the time. and spilled salt is a nightmare to clean up! Our ancestors hated people like me, so they said, “Talli, chetikivakamma. Akada pettu.” Also, if they were misers, they’d find any reason to not part with their things, wouldn’t they?
10. A group of 3 people travelling somewhere is bad luck: It’s common sense, is it not? Maybe not bad luck, but if two of them were conversing about something that the third one knows nothing of, would he not be bored? He would be and he would feel ignored and hurt, which is definitely not good luck if not bad. You may ask what about 5 people, well I don’t know everything, now do I?
Okay, please try not to be offended by this list. We agree that there are many beliefs like Vastu and astronomy that are followed worldwide and we respect our culture for being their origin. Also, let us know if tehre is some superstition that you know of which has a possible reason behind it!
2. Broken mirrors or cups bring bad luck: Say what you may, our ancestors are intelligent people and mirrors, expensive. They knew we would turn out lazy, so instead of saying ‘Throw the broken shards of glass because you may hurt yourself’, they said ‘It will bring BAD LUCK.’ Well, it worked, did it not?
3. You should sit or drink water, if you sneeze before going out: Well, it is a scientific fact that sneezing stops the heart from beating, for a millisecond that is. So this superstition might just be our ancestors being careful.
4. Animal sacrifice during festivals: Well, I know this is a touchy subject, but it is inhumane as well. We eat meat, do we also have to enjoy killing an animal to get that meat? Coming to this tradition, it is nothing more than good economic planning. Killing an animal in front of a god pleases him and the meat pleases guests’ appetite. Win-win.
5. Menstruating women are not allowed in temples/kitchens: Okay. When this superstition started taking wind there was no concept of sanitary napkins. Maybe our ancestors were worried about hygiene more than anything. Because how can something that enables childbirth be inauspicious or impure?
6. Crossing a dead body is a good omen: Optimistic people that they were, our ancestors did not let anything make them sad. We celebrate death even through tears because we believe in afterlife and heaven. So, if we see a dead body we are seeing someone who is on his/her way to heaven. That’s good news, is it not? Well.
7. Marrying a squint-eyed woman brings good luck: This one is pretty transparent. Men, no matter how they look, want to marry a pretty woman. This superstition just helps squint-eyed women get married. Serves them right to discriminate in the first place anyway.
8. Left hand out, right hand in: We all know this one, right? We use our left hand to do unsavory things, if you are getting my drift, don’t we? It’s neither cool nor healthy to do anything important with that hand, is it? Wonder what is the case if a person is ambidextrous.
9. Passing salt or eggs from one hand to another is bad luck: I am a klutz and if I am asked to hand someone an egg, I will break it 70% of the time. and spilled salt is a nightmare to clean up! Our ancestors hated people like me, so they said, “Talli, chetikivakamma. Akada pettu.” Also, if they were misers, they’d find any reason to not part with their things, wouldn’t they?
10. A group of 3 people travelling somewhere is bad luck: It’s common sense, is it not? Maybe not bad luck, but if two of them were conversing about something that the third one knows nothing of, would he not be bored? He would be and he would feel ignored and hurt, which is definitely not good luck if not bad. You may ask what about 5 people, well I don’t know everything, now do I?
Okay, please try not to be offended by this list. We agree that there are many beliefs like Vastu and astronomy that are followed worldwide and we respect our culture for being their origin. Also, let us know if tehre is some superstition that you know of which has a possible reason behind it!
