The informant was eating lunch with a Indian friend one day, and suddenly began hiccuping.  The Indian friend chuckled, and told the informant that when you hiccup it means that somebody that loves you is thinking of you.  The informant is actually a very frequent hiccuper, and so this belief was extremely satisfying to him!

The informant asked his friend where this belief came from.  The Indian friend said he learned it from his mom, but that he didn’t know where it came from or what the true meaning was. The informant offered no analysis of the belief, except the fact that he liked it.

I think this belief is a way to turn what can be a nuisance–a particularly bad case of hiccups–into a much more positive experience.  Hiccups are transformed into a reminder that one is loved, and that those people that love you are thinking of you.  It’s a poignant and comforting belief.  This belief may have survived for a long time, especially if it was passed down through a family with a history of bad hiccups!