Black Cat

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Gurgaon, Jan 2023: I slammed the brakes, bringing the car to an abrupt halt. Heart pounding, I looked at my wife, who looked shaken and a bit weird (the mascara she was applying spread unevenly on her eyelids!). An SUV in front of us had suddenly braked in the middle of the road, causing me to take take evasive action. We narrowly avoided colliding with the SUV, with only the seat belts preventing any kind of harm to us. 

Fuming, I stepped out of my car and went to see what had happened. The driver, a man probably in late twenties, looked at me apologetically. He was accompanied by an older lady (I am guessing his mother), and said, "Sorry bhaiya, Kali billi rasta kaat gyi. Mummy ne chilla k bola car roko!" (Translated: Sorry bro, a black cat crossed our path, so my mother panicked and asked me to stop!). 

Welcome to the world of superstitions, which rank from some genuinenly scary ones (keeping knives under your pillow while sleeping drives evil away), to funny (you will have a fight if your slippers are kept upside down), to downright silly (don't give clothes for ironing on Thursday). These superstitions have become commonplace and usual for all of us, and in our blind addiction to 'faith' and 'religion', we seem to have completely forgotton that the origins, cause and (in some cases) even benefits of these superstitions!!!

The last sentence is, surprisingly true. There are some benefits of these superstitions as well. Let's look at the black cat superstition, which comes from medieval times, when people used to travel on horses. Without streetlights, they mostly travelled in the dark, with the moonlight acting as their guide. In case there was a cat (mind you, any color), on the road, the horses used to start panicking on seeing their glowing eyes (the glow coming from the "nocturnal" habitat of the cat!").  Add to this black color, and you have two floating eye balls in the middle of the road. Thus, travellers were advised to stop a minute, calm their horses and then continue with their journeys. So while this superstition was pretty useful in medieval times, you can decide on the usefulness in today's world. 

Example 2- why not cut hair/nail on Thursday (or in some cultures, Saturday). Simple answer- weekly off for barbers! Hey, they need a day off too, and what better day than the middle of the week, when everyone else is busy with their office and chores. 

I am not writing this post to take a dig at any religion or beliefs. We are now in the year 2023- fast paced, technology driven, unsafe and unsure. Maybe a few superstitions will help you, maybe some will just be a hinderance. Take a call, be logical, let your common sense guide you, instead of a notion. The next time you say yourself saying - a broken mirror is bad luck, simply throw away the mirror and avoid cutting yourself on it!!!


Photo Courtesy: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2014-05/20/content_17514083_3.htm

 We almost met with an accident because someone put his faith ahead of common sense! Don't be that guy!!!

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