Narendra Dabholkar, the rationalist who took up the battle against superstition in Maharashtra, was murdered on 20 August 2013 by two gunmen in Pune. He was the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti and was trying to get an anti-superstition bill passed in his fight against dubious Godmen that perform miracles and superstitious rites and have many followers. He was criticized vehemently by the right wing Hindu parties such as BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and was labeled a ‘Devil’. His murder is a blow to rationality in a country full of superstitions.
While some people say that all these superstitions have been in our culture because of some scientific reason, I’d like to know why those reasons can’t be explained while teaching children about these things instead of teaching them to just blindly follow their elders. Besides there are a lot of superstitions that clearly can’t have a scientific reason at all. This is a simple case of a society refusing to change and grow by holding on to old rituals that don’t make any sense. Let’s take a look at some of the more bizarre and clearly wrong superstitions that still hold sway in Indian society.
7. Widows Are Considered Inauspicious
What could be the scientific reasoning behind widows becoming inauspicious. How is their wearing white clothes and not wearing jewelry and not remarrying and not living a full life going to help anyone? Is it supposed to help the deceased husband in the afterlife? Clearly this is just a case of our extremely patriarchal society finding one more way to subjugate women. Thankfully this superstition is starting to change at least in the big cities.
6. The Evil Eye
Another silly superstition is of the whole evil eye or “buri nazar” concept. How can someone set bad luck on us by just looking at us? If this was so everyone in India would have nothing but bad luck because we all go around wishing our neighbors didn’t do better than us in any way. And what’s even more bizarre is that the whole problem can be solved by putting a black mark on your face. Such superstitions still hold strong in our society and they make us think that our failures are not because of our lack of effort but rather due to bad luck brought on by the evil eye. Instead of trying to figure out our mistakes we go to holy men and “tantrics” and waste our time, money and energy.
5. Lemon & Chili Totem
One great way to avoid the evil eye, especially for houses and shops is to hang a totem made of lemon and chilies. It’s the black spot for buildings. Apparently it captures all the evil eyes before they set bad luck on you. Some people even hang them in the cars. If you find some lying on the road then you are not supposed to cross over it otherwise all the evil eyes that were captured by the totem will upload on to you. Do I even have to explain why this is complete crap?
4. Menstruation
Another superstition is related to the menstruation of women. When women are menstruating they supposedly become unclean and impure. So they can’t enter temples and can’t enter the kitchen and cook food. They say the scientific reason behind this is that blood loss during menstruation causes weakness and this is a way to ensure proper rest for the women. I find it hard to believe that our extremely misogynistic forefathers had this reason in mind while forming this superstition. To me it’s just another way to make women feel guilty every month for being unclean and impure and is merely a psychological subjugation technique.
3. The Comings and Goings of Laxmi
Our Indian families are very religious and holy but they also are very greedy and materialistic. That’s why everyone’s favorite Goddess is Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth. There are many rules that need to be followed to ensure that Laxmi comes to your home and stays there. One of these is to not sweep the house at night as that is the time Laxmi comes and if you are sweeping then all the dust will land on her and she’ll get angry and leave. You must also turn on the light in all the rooms as Laxmi likes bright rooms. I don’t know how a high electricity bill brings wealth? The only thing it brings is global warming.
2. Animal Sacrifice
Animals are sacrificed daily to appease one or the other of the billions of Gods that we have. I guess all our Gods and Goddesses are non-vegetarians. This superstition used to enrage me a lot but I guess it is no different than being a non-vegetarian. Whether you kill an animal for appeasing a God or for appeasing your appetite it’s the same thing. We first need to try and encourage vegetarianism and then tackle the issue of animal sacrifice.
1. The Holy Dip
The silliest superstition for me is the thought that a dip in the river Ganges can wash away all your sin. Now scientists have studied the water of the river Ganges and found that it is very oxygen rich and contains bacteria that feed on waste. These factors mean that despite of being highly polluted it can still support life. Taking a dip in this water might even be beneficial for the skin but my problem comes from the way this superstition has been misused by us to justify our actions. It is a simple way of countering the law of Karma. Do whatever you have to do to get ahead in the world and become wealthy and then just come to take a dip in the Ganges and all your sins will be washed away. The implication of this superstition is what makes it perhaps the most harmful superstition in India. It gives every Indian the right to lie, cheat, manipulate and deceive and makes every Indian who believes in this superstition a hypocrite.
Aditya Thakur is an ex marine engineer who quit his sailing career to pursue his dreams of being a writer. Now he freelances, blogs and writes short stories all day long.
Acha bhai aur kuch ??? You left blackmagic and gur system of pahari ilakass as well
With all due respect to your articles I agree that they might not have any reasons(which you and me don’t know) but what are the losses of following these (as you call it) “superstitions”. While I don’t have any explanation for any of above I respect all these. although I do want few things to be changed like animal sacrifice and related women. and about widow thing: they are not considered inauspicious at least not where I come from and for your knowledge I’m from a small village of Shimla.
but whatever may be the case I only know that you should never ever mock the beliefs of people. you can express your views but also keep in mind that it’s also your responsibility not to hurt the sentiments of people and as responsible and literate person you should understand that those who have been following something from their birth it’s not easy to be rational. You may try and I insist that you should try to change things but not by calling them “silly or stupid” but by first understanding and by first being the part of it and then making them aware about wrong and right.
I personally don’t follow most of the things from above list but I believe that it’s my responsibility to respect their beliefs.
and BTW that “Holy dip” thing you should think before you call it “silly” because it’s Hindu Religion you’re talking about and not just a superstition.
The bottom line is first learn to respect things then if you find them wrong try to change it while keeping in mind that you don’t hurt the sentiments of others. especially when you’re writing/talking on a public platform.
But what about the widow system? It is highly condemnable. Do you support it too?
BTW I like your all previous articles. Perhaps this one too but I found this a little bit offensive. Call me superstitious(which I feel I’m not) or whatever. 🙂
There is one superstition which you have mentioned and I suppose there is a reason behind its practice. In olden days when electricity wasn’t yet discovered, it used to be generally dark all around in the nights. In the darkness, you might have ended up sweeping away some valuable things unintentionally which were lying unattended on the floor of your house. Hence this superstition might have cropped to prevent such things.
Though not for all superstitions, there is a scientific reason behind many. For example, there is a superstition that no building in a village should be taller than the main temple in that village. The reason is that every temple has a dvajastambh (a tall metal pillar) and that would act as a lightning rod and prevent mishaps during lightning.
Well such practices may not find any purpose in present days. Hence it is important to find the exact reason behind the superstition and then follow it.
Cheers
Ranjith
here we all are taking about superstition but what is the meaning of superstition ? meaning that what i know is the things that are not scientifically proven..but tell me my friends.. Is science has proved each and everything in this universe ? No it is proving new things each and every day..changing its theories, prediction and calculations…How can we prove a thing or practice to be superstition ? it may be possible that science is not able to get the right answer behind that..or science is not able to get the true reason for its existing..and it is also possible that in the coming future science may able to get the answer of many superstitions prevailing in our society.
All we need to do is to think what can be the exact reason for any superstition to be prevailed in our society because if any thing exist then there must be some reason behind it…start the search..ask your heart…use your mind…u may able to explore the right reason…
The writer first should get rid of his own superstition that animal sacrifice is same as non-vegetarianism. Writing for scientific thinking and pushing ones own dogma is a sort of propaganda.
All these are part of our great culture thousand of years old.
It is a ploy to destroy Hindu culture. India need to write its constitution with laws for Hindus based on Manu Samriti.
Also Hindu code bill was polluted by Nehru and need to be based on Hindu Shashtars like no property rights to women and multiple marriage allowed with no provision for divorce . Indian constitution just copied from West .
Tomorrow these rationalist will say Gau is not Mata or Cow Urine not good for health.
RSS has historically advocated this and only Mr Modi is the hope.