Author Archives: Ashwin Appiah

Popular Belief – India

Age: 40
Occupation: Preschool Teacher
Residence: Redmond, WA
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Sourashtra, Tamil

Itching Palms

My informant told me about a popular belief in India where if your palms are itchy then that means that someone is thinking about you. She first heard about this belief when she was in 8th grade. She really doesn’t think it is true but whenever her palms itch she has a premonition or thought that someone in her family from back home is missing her or is thinking about her. She said that she has also heard many variants and versions of this belief.

She has heard that if your mom itch that it means you have money coming you’re way, in the form of income or gifts. She heard this version from her friends in college when she was 19 years old. She also stated that she really doesn’t think this is true, money comes to you because you work hard or it is your birthday.

She has also heard a variant of this belief where if you are hiccupping a lot that means that someone in you’re family is thinking about your or missing you. This belief she heard recently from one of her friends, who also happens to be Indian.

I think these beliefs once again are just mere beliefs and don’t mean anything in real life. In a sort of way I think these are just things that are you in your head and think about it when that specific incident happens, such as palms itching or hiccupping. Many of these beliefs are passed on generation by generation and act like a family heirloom for each family. Each family probably has some kind of belief that only their family associates with, and this one is what my family is in association with among many others. Itchy palms might mean nothing to some families but in my family it means that someone is missing you dearly.

Popular Saying/Children’s Game – United States

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Redmond, WA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Sourashtra, Tamil

Jinx

Jinx is a popular children’s game played all over the United States. My sister first heard of the game in 1st grade. She said at first she didn’t know what it meant when her friends said jinx but after a while she understood that it meant that she couldn’t talk because she said the same word as her friend. She said that when a person calls jinx, the other person counts to ten and after she does that whoever has been “jinxed” cannot talk until someone says their name. If violated (the person talks), then their penalty is a  punch in the arm. This part of the game varies across America. She said sometimes she played where the other person has to buy her a candy bar or some sort of sweets.  She also stated that jinxes can be called in line, as if it were a race. The last person who has called the highest level of “jinx” wins and the other person is jinxed. She said that one example of a jinx sequence is:

  1. Jinx
  2. Jinx Double Jinx
  3. Personal Jinx
  4. Personal Jinx Black Magic Jinx
  5. Your Mother Jinx

She said that once when she was in California she heard someone say “California jinx.” This is where someone cannot go to the bathroom unless they have said his or her name.

I have played this game many times over the course of my schooling. I think that this game is played as a leisurely fun past time. I did a little research on this game I found out many variations around the United States. In North Carolina, if someone breaks the jinx, then they are rendered a homosexual. In Western North Dakota, the person jinxed cannot move from their spot until someone says their name.

In recent popular culture, the jinx game has been used many times. For instance in the popular show The Office, Pam the receptionist jinxes Jim and declares that he has to buy her a soda before he can talk. The unfortunate part to that is that they were out of soda in the soda machine, so he cannot talk the whole day until he leaves work.

Annotation:

Drug Testing.” The Office. NBC. KING, Los Angeles. 26 Apr. 2006.

“Jinx (Childrens Game).” Wikipedia. 17 Apr. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinx_%28children%27s_game%29>.

Popular Saying – India

Age: 40
Occupation: Preschool Teacher
Residence: Redmond, WA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Sourashtra, Tamil

“Kaila Jadum Polough”

“Fruits of a rotten tree”

My informant first heard this saying when she was in a little child, around the age of 5. She says that people say this when they don’t want to answer a really stupid question or they are just too lazy to answer someone back. This saying is in the language of Sourashtra which is a language spoken in India. Over the years it is slowly becoming extinct. There is writing text for this language but no one uses it anymore. It is more of a spoken language. That is why there is no accompanying text to the saying.

My informant said that she does not know why the saying has to do with rotten fruits. She says that it was probably made up really long ago in the 19th century.

As I was growing up my informant said it to me many times. Here is a transcript of one of those incidences, translated into English:

Ashwin: Where are we going tonight?

Rani: To aunt preeya’s house.

Ashwin: What time are we going?

Rani: 6 o’clock.

Ashwin: Who will be there?

Rani: Kaila Jadum Polough “Fruits of a rotten tree”

In this transcript I was asking a lot of questions about something that isn’t very important. As my mom was getting impatient she said the saying. The strange thing to notice is that my mom was the only one who said that in the family. My dad would never say this saying. This was probably because she and her family members said it a lot when she was growing up.

This saying is very similar to the saying many teenagers say these days, “Your face” or “your mom.” These sayings are said in the same context and the same situations. I highly doubt there is a some kind of relation between the two sayings because of the distance between where the two languages are spoken.

Proverb – India (Tamil)

Age: 46
Occupation: Software Engineer
Residence: Redmond, WA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Sourashtra, Tamil

Arukamataathan Keil 58 aruvaalam

Even with 58 knives, there is no use if the person doesn’t know how to use them.

My informant first told me about this proverb when I was young kid in 4th grade. It happened when I was doing a huge project. I had all the material and books with me which was need for the project, but I had no clue what I was doing and how I was going to do it. That is when my dad told me this old proverb. He said that his uncle had told him once when he was a teenager, and he’s heard it many times since then.

Ever since my informant told me about this proverb it has made me think about things that I want to do more in depth and understand the material that I need to learn in school. It was kind of a lesson that my informant told me through this proverb. Throughout my high school life I followed this proverb to its fullest. This proverb has also been told to my sister in her early years of her life. For some reason my dad is very fond of this proverb and says it to many people, including my mom. He said that he was very impacted by this proverb when his uncle first told him, which is why it is so close to him.

Basically what this proverb is saying is that even with the material you have, you need to know how to use this material. You might have numerous resources but the one who’s the smartest knows how to use all of them to his advantage. I think that this proverb is used all over the world in many different languages. I have heard this proverb (worded differently) in English many times. But even though it is universal this particular proverb in my native language of Tamil will bear a close tie with me because of its implication and its life changing

Children’s Game

Age: 15
Occupation: Student
Residence: Redmond, WA
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Sourashtra, Tamil

M.A.S.H

The game MASH is a children’s game played all over the world. Trisha told me that she first played this game when she was in 2nd grade. She thought that it was very dumb and not fun. But as she grew up she realized it was a fun game.

The game is played between two people. One person would write things down and the other would be whose life we would try to predict. The person writing down the things would ask the other person to name 5 boys, places, cars, colors and such things. Then after they have collected the information then she would ask the person to say a random number between 1-4. Then that number would be multiplied by 2 and subtracted by 3. That number would be used to cross of the things on the list. They would count to that number on the list and then cross out that item, until there was one of each of the categories. Then those would be what would be your projected life. At end they would count off the MASH and the remaining letter would be the type of house you would live in, M standing for mansion, A standing for apartment, S standing for Shack and H standing for house.

This game is very similar to many other children’s games played by girls such as true love and lemons. Trisha said that she would play this game at recess with her friends. Since then she has only played this game as a joke with her friends in high school. But when she was a child she thought this game was very fascinating because it predicted your life in the future. She said she usually picked the cutest guys in the grade as her 5 boys.

As much as this game was fun, it had no use to it but only for pleasure and fun. I think that many girls play this game because they love to look into the future. There are many versions of this game. Such as MASHO which has an outhouse added to the end of the name, and MAPSHC which has playhouse and cardboard box added. This game is very popular and would probably be played all over the world in many different languages.