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Superstition



If you stop a moment to observe, you get characters for stories.   Every moment is a story.  Every person is a story.  Life is a story.

I was in a shop in Delhi.  A buyer’s bill came to Rs 115.  He gave a five-hundred rupee note.  No change, says the shopkeeper.  So the client fished out a hundred-rupee note and a ten-rupee coin and a five-rupee coin.  Both the coins were golden.  A moment passed.  I was busy (in my own clumsy, lazily observing way) picking my items.  That man came back.  “Where’s the coconut I bought?” he asked.

“Sorry,” said the shopkeeper who picked out the coconut from under his outdated weighing balance.  “But I have not charged for this…”

“I know,” said the client.  “How much?”

“Rs 25.”

The client gave a Rs50 note.  The shopkeeper gave back Rs25 which included the same golden coins that he had given earlier.

“A lucky sign,” said the client. 

“You believe in luck?” said the shopkeeper pretending to be nonchalant.

“Not at all.  I’m not bloody superstitious.   What do you think I am.  It’s just that the Shastri said yesterday that my Shukradasha (auspicious 12 years) is beginning.”
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Comments

  1. Ankur AnandMarch 21, 2014 at 8:47 PM

    If there was no Superstition, we'd be celebrating the 4.5 billionth New year, instead we are in 2014. This is how Religion and Superstition pushed us back by years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NamrotaMarch 22, 2014 at 11:04 AM

      I am curious...what did that mean?

      Delete
    2. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 22, 2014 at 1:34 PM

      I'm equally curious, Namrota. Hope Ankur returns to satisfy us.

      Delete
    3. NSMarch 22, 2014 at 8:30 PM

      Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) celebrates the real AGE, thats right, in Billions, you should search for the Hindu New Year (age) . You will get idea of which exact year is this. When world was counting age of planet in thousands, Sanatan Dharma had the concept of yug, mahayug, Kalpa. 1 Kalpa is 4.32 billion years. 2014 is brought by Abrahamic religions.

      Delete
    4. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 23, 2014 at 9:20 AM

      But what has that got to do with superstition. It's just a matter of convenience and history. There was no intelligent creature 4.5 billion years ago to make a calendar in the first place. Secondly, the Hindu calculation also cannot claim any scientific authenticity.

      Delete
    5. Ankur AnandMarch 23, 2014 at 3:06 PM

      it's has got nothing to do one religion .. it's simply the age of our planet which is 4.54 billion.. scientifically.. what my point was that...when you said in last line that It’s just that the Shastri said yesterday that my Shukradasha (auspicious 12 years) is beginning.” "Shastri always follow Gregorian calender to predict things even when in Hinduism every Ved has been written in kalpa .. how to believe in such people prediction ..
      Every thing has got to do with the superstition .. every religion has made their own calender according to their superstition.. In mayan calender there was no date after 2012 because there superstition was that world will end on that day .. even the modern Gregorian calender that we use was reformed and made such that everyone should celebrate the Easter on the same day .
      I’m not saying that the Hindu calculation can claim any scientific authenticity but it has predicted its value more accurately than any other .. 4.32 .

      Delete
  2. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 21, 2014 at 9:40 PM

    Will you please explain that?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Viktoriia KalyniukMarch 21, 2014 at 11:44 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Viktoriia KalyniukMarch 21, 2014 at 11:45 PM

    k I do believe that if my right palm is itching is for loosing money and left for gaining. It does work :P so I believe in superstitions.
    But how can the client claim he is not superstitious, obviously he is lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMarch 22, 2014 at 10:36 AM

    Its just like, i am superstitious but wait why am i telling you this, kinda situation !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 22, 2014 at 1:08 PM

      Many people don't realise how superstitious they are.

      Delete
  6. NamrotaMarch 22, 2014 at 11:06 AM

    haha... many people think it's old fashion to be superstitious and so they deny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 22, 2014 at 1:10 PM

      Many people are not aware of their own superstitions!

      Delete
  7. Deepa GopalMarch 22, 2014 at 11:28 AM

    It's so easy to find them around almost all the time :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 22, 2014 at 1:11 PM

      No doubt, the world is full of such people, perhaps including us!

      Delete
  8. AmitAagMarch 22, 2014 at 11:59 AM

    :):)

    ReplyDelete
  9. RAN IN JAN March 22, 2014 at 1:42 PM

    good post. I had written something in similar lines.

    http://truethoughts-niranjan.blogspot.in/2013/07/dangerous-belief.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownMarch 22, 2014 at 8:12 PM

    I am superstitious when it comes to my loved ones. Too much of care and concern asks me to be careful in every possible way. :D Why to take risk!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 23, 2014 at 9:21 AM

      Some superstition is inevitable when it comes to matters like love. There's no love without some illusions, in other words.

      Delete
  11. UnknownMarch 22, 2014 at 9:04 PM

    LOL! Vehemently denying is the first instinct of anyone who is asked "Are you superstitious?" Afterwards, you notice the colorful rings on their fingers, the red and black threads on their wrists and little cylindrical silver pieces around their necks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 23, 2014 at 9:22 AM

      Precisely, Sreesha. Such people can be interesting objects of fiction.

      Delete
  12. PriyaMarch 23, 2014 at 11:23 PM

    Oh, I'm very superstitious and I guess so is everyone, in their own little ways. I love your illustration of the point.
    Off-topic (kind of), it reminded me of something by Terry Pratchett: “There’s no point in believing in things that exist. They will go on existing whether you believe it or not.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 24, 2014 at 6:41 AM

      Carrying on from where Pratchett stops, can we say that it's better to believe in things that don't exist? :)
      Yes, I agree with you that we are all superstitious in one way or another. I wasn't really making a judgment when I wrote this blog, was trying to show how we are.

      Delete
  13. UnknownMarch 25, 2014 at 11:52 AM

    I'm superstitious...I believe in astrology :) I believe my stars are the reflection of my past deed...and yes, I believe in rebirth too :)

    ReplyDelete

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