An appeal to reason

This post starts with a pledge. From this day onwards I pledge never to sign any important documents or start any important activities at times other than those considered inauspicious. I pledge to have someone inquire about my destination whenever I go out. I shall eat heartily at the peak of every solar and lunar eclipse. I shall step into every house with my left leg. I am even considering buying a black cat to let loose every time I leave my house. I suppose you realize where this is heading. If I have a say in naming anyone, it will be the worst possible numerological name.

Well, time for some introductions, I am Harshavardan (not Harshavardhan), named according to the principles of numerology, I live in a house which stands, not due to the laws of physics, but due to the blessings of the demon whose picture hangs at the entrance, supposedly to ward off other demons. Demonic pacts apart, every brick in my house screams of strict adherence to Vaastu, which, for the uninitiated, is the Indian version of Feng Shui. This has resulted in an outdoor staircase which leads everyone to think that my house is an apartment with another family living on the first floor, hence we receive double copies of every pamphlet and menu card that is circulated free to households. Another side effect is that everyone from the carpenter to the electrician dutifully reports upstairs when the problem is downstairs and vice versa. Once you enter my house, you will be greeted by a framed picture of a donkey, which apparently thwarts the evil eye. The concept of evil eye is one unique to Tamil culture. According to this theory, we are all supposed to possess an evil eye, which we place upon objects we are jealous of. The logic is that after seeing a donkey, you will not be jealous of the house. And there the logic ends. Another beautiful theory is that three people should not start a journey, this results in me having to walk to the end of the road every time I leave anywhere with my parents.

There are a set of people who tell me that superstitions are superstitions only because we don't know the reasoning behind them. For example, we should not sleep facing south, this has been explained as an effort not to intersect the earth's magnetic field lines, hence avoiding a very small induced current that flows through our body, disturbing our sleep. This however doesn't explain why we are allowed to sleep facing north. We are not allowed to eat during eclipses as the absence of the sun or the moon results in an unhealthy atmosphere for eating. I tried to find any scientific justification for this on the net, the closest one stated that as there used to be very little artificial lighting in olden days, they wouldn't eat during eclipses in order to avoid sharing their meal with lizards, cockroaches etc.. In the age of artificial lighting that is in some ways more powerful than natural lighting, to follow such rules seems foolish to me. It will serve us well to remember that these are the superstitions that I've tried finding justification for, the others don't even qualify for that privilege.

On a more simplistic basis, it seems improper that there are a hundred rules as to when not to do something, or how not to do something when there is no time in which you must work. Being educated, intelligent people it is amazing the way we subconsciously imbibe these rituals from our parents. So now, I am consciously debunking this. For I am going out now and am asking my brother to ask where I am going.

On a totally different note, two of my friends have recently started blogs, Balakrishnan (http://whyshouldinamemyblog.blogspot.com) and Ashwin (http://impru.blogspot.com). Best of luck to them, hope they keep posting.