On Superstitions
A couple of days ago, I was helping my wife clean my room, when she accidentally bumped her head against mine. Bothered by something, she immediately asked me to bump heads with her for a second time. No sooner did this happen, a wave of nostalgia swept over me, carrying me down the memory lane all the way to my primary school days. That you would grow horns in your head, if you don't bump your head a second time with the person whom you just bumped your head with, was only one of the many superstitions that I (and many of my friends) had quite resolutely observed and followed!
If that one had something to do with the fear of growing something, there was also this fear of not growing something again. A cavity created by a just-fallen tooth would not grow another tooth if the fallen tooth were not buried under the ground without exposing it to the skies. So much strong was the belief that everytime a tooth got shaky, I kept reminding myself that the tooth ought to be buried the royal way, until the tooth finally gave way.
Another commonly widespread notion among kids, for many ages, has been that of peacock feathers multiplying when kept inside a book for a long period. Interestingly, if you question them about the credibility of their beliefs, chances are you could end up being cold-shouldered by them for doubting the obvious.
Superstitions like these get rooted in ourselves so deeply that many a time we don't act like the rationalist whom we think we are. You could never explain that silly thing we do when we accidentally stamp on other people's feet - touch them and kiss our fingers. How many of us don't do that? Most of us do that just because we've seen so many others do it. It'd be funny to imagine how it would be if soccer players too had a similar superstition. Players touching and kissing their fingers whenever they trip and fall on the ground!
Every superstition would initially have an origin in a rumour. A casual rumour gradually grows in stature on passing through every ear and mouth and finally becomes a superstition. Superstitions could be fun as long as they are confined to those blissful years of ignorance - childhood. The kids of modern day are in increasing danger of growing more superstitions, since they are being bombarded with overmuch amount of information every minute. Accepting and nurturing a superstition without reasoning could even have a negative impact on a child's cognitive abilities.
Statistics reveal that about 50% of the total knowledge that an average human being gains in a lifetime is during his/her first fifteen years. A child's inquisitive nature is what makes it learn all that it does. While many of the parents find this learning process amusing in the early years of their children's growth, they tend to snub the quizzing instincts of their kids as they grow up, mostly because of lack of patience to give an explanation or because they find incessant questioning irritating.
Given the ample scope today that one has for accessing information about anything & everything, it becomes quite necessary for us to instill a rational bent-up of mind in our children so that they grow into individuals devoid of superstitions, who know and understand the reason behind everything they do and the rationale behind everything they believe.
