Celebrating Birthday Early

General Information about Item:

  • Bad Luck Superstition
  • Language: English/Hindi
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Aashika Jhawar
  • Date Collected: 11-5-2018
  • Interview was done over phone

Informant Data:

  • Aashika (Aashi) Jhawar is a 19 year old college student from Bellevue, WA. She was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently attends the University of California, Berkeley. She is second generation American and her family is from Northern India.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Indian culture, modesty is considered a core value and character is often measured by one’s restraint towards temptations. This dates back to the Laws of Manu, a Hindu law code circa 100 BCE-200 CE, where men had to guard themselves against life’s temptations. This cultural ideal relates to this superstition because celebrating a birthday early suggests arrogance that a person will live until their next birthday.
  • Social Context: Aashi learned this superstition from her mother and grandmother. She says that her family believes in this superstition and is sure not to give birthday presents or have birthday celebrations early.

Item:

  • It is considered bad luck in Indian culture to celebrate a birthday early, as it suggests overconfidence in ones lifespan.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “An example of a bad omen in indian culture is celebrating a birthday or really any holiday beforehand. It signals that the birthday might not arrive since you’ve already celebrated it or something along those lines, and for that reason, people in India never really celebrate holidays early.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Aashi stated that this superstition is relatively simple and straightforward, but she follows it closely. She recounted one experience where she was not able to give her sister a birthday present because it was a few days before her birthday, and it would be unlucky for her sister.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Unlike many other superstitions in Indian culture, this one seems to be rooted in morality rather than religion. I have heard of a similar practice in Judaism and I’m sure it exists in many other cultures that have modesty as a core value.

Collector’s Name: Derek Lue

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