Tag Archives: Indian

Celebrating Birthday Early

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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

Menstruation in Hindu Temples

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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 Hinduism, menstruating women are considered ritually impure and therefore are restricted from doing certain traditions. If a woman were to participate while menstruating, it would typically be deemed as an impure practice that would result in the opposite of the ritual’s intent. A formal ban was placed on Indian women in certain places of worship by the Kerala High Court in 1991 but was lifted in 2018 after numerous protests.
  • Social Context: Aashi learned this superstition from her mother, who describes this as one of many Indian traditions that is antiquated and routed in sexist ideals.

Item:

  • Menstruating Indian women (or anyone deemed “unclean”) cannot enter a place of worship or the ritual will not be successful or the gods will be angered.

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

Transcript:

  • “Another bad omen/superstition in Indian culture is that it’s very bad luck and considered very disrespectful to enter a temple or even pray if you haven’t showered or if a woman is on her period, so for that reason if you are considered ‘unclean’ then you can’t enter into a place of worship.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Aashi was well-informed on this superstition because the ban on menstruating women was recently lifted in India, which is a great stride for gender equality. Aashi didn’t know the specifics of what exactly will happen if a woman prayed/entered a temple while menstruating, but she knew that it would bring bad luck and that the ritual being conducted would not be successful or as effective.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought this superstition was interesting because it is highly reflective of traditional ideals within a culture. It seems like this superstition was formed from a societal bias against women in India, and practiced to encourage a gender divide. This superstition, paired with the fasting practice on Karva Chauth, indicates a trend of sexism in Indian culture that can be observed through these superstitions.

Collector’s Name: Derek Lue

Indian Superstition: Hiccups

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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: Aashi did not know why hiccups are culturally specific, but she did link the general superstition to evil eye. Evil eye is a belief, typically held in the Northern states of India that attaches bad luck to malevolent glares or thoughts towards another.
  • Social Context: Aashi learned this superstition from her grandmother, who described it as an extension of the ‘evil eye’.

Item:

  • If you have hiccups, it means that someone is thinking about you negatively.

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

Transcript:

  • “Another thing that’s considered bad luck in Indian culture is continuous hiccups or just having the hiccups because it signifies that someone close to you is thinking about you in a not positive way or remembering you in a bad way”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Aashi prefaced this superstition by stating that she knew very little about the origin of this superstition, but it is something she recalls her grandmother teaching her at a young age. She either was told or assumes that this practice is linked to the Evil Eye belief, as they both include something resulting from a malevolent glance or thought from another.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought this superstition was interesting because it has very little cultural significance, and yet it is still widely accepted as a superstition. When asked, Aashi did not know why hiccups specifically represent this ideal and neither did her grandmother upon following up. This indicates that either the cultural significance was lost when passed down, or (less likely) there was no cultural significance to begin with. A quick web search does not provide an answer to this, however, I found it interesting that a more common belief online is that hiccups indicate that someone is missing you, not thinking about you negatively.

Collector’s Name: Derek Lue

Karva Chauth Fasting

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General Information about Item:

  • Bad Luck Superstition
  • Language: English/Hindi
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Aashika Jhawar
  • Date Collected: 11-5-2018
  • Interview 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: Karva Chauth is a one-day Hindu festival celebrated four days after purnima (full moon) in the month of Kartika. The Karva Chauth fast is traditionally celebrated by women in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and as “Atla Tadde” in Andhra Pradesh. In the past, the celebration of Karva Chauth was a prayer for the long life of soldiers in the war, and today is used to ensure the long life of a married husband.
  • Social Context: Aashi learned this superstition from her parents, who described it as one of the many examples of gender imbalances in Indian culture.

Item:

  • During the day-long festival of Karva Chauth, it is considered bad luck for a married woman to eat while the moon is not visible.

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

Transcript:
  • “So one example of an Indian Superstition can be seen during the festival of Karva Chauth, and basically on this day women will wait for the moon to come out and fast until that. Essentially what they are hoping to do is ensure good health for their husbands.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Aashi prefaced this superstition by stating that most of the superstitions she knew originating from India are rooted in sexist ideals. Aashi also stated that she does not participate in this festival.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought this superstition was interesting in that it shows how closely religion and superstition are linked in Indian culture. I also found it interesting that the superstition changed in meaning over time, starting with luck for troops and became luck for husbands.

Collector’s Name: Derek Lue