Tag Archives: india

An Auspicious Day

Text: “An Indian superstition I grew up hearing is the belief in starting a new job or aspiration on a Monday or a Wednesday. I think the superstition somehow stems from Vaastu, which is Indian astrology. It involves adding up the numbers of a date to check if they correspond to a number considered lucky for that individual. For example, if the date was 04/21/24, then you would add up all the individual digits in that date: 4 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 4. Those numbers add up to 13, and if 13 is one of that individuals lucky birth numbers, then it is auspicious to start your work or your personal journey on that date. Typically, my family would choose Mondays or Wednesdays to commence new endeavors.”

Context: My informant – a 23-year-old man from Bangalore, India – explained this superstition to me that was passed down to him by his parents. It involves calculating the numerical value of a chosen date by adding up its digits and checking if the resulting number corresponds to a lucky birth number for the individual. If the number is indeed a match to that lucky number, then starting work or embarking on a personal journey on that date is considered favorable according to this belief system. This cultural tradition reflects the importance of astrology and numerology in Indian customs, where specific dates and days are believed to have varying levels of auspiciousness based on these calculations. My informant’s family tradition of choosing Mondays or Wednesdays for new endeavors highlights the continuity of such beliefs across generations within Indian families. While my informant said he isn’t entirely of the belief that this superstition carries much weight, he said that the importance of it to his family is the reason why he tends to begin his own work or personal journeys on Mondays or Wednesdays. 

Analysis: In exploring this Indian superstition, I was struck by the profound cultural and familial significance embedded within this belief system. The practice of choosing specific days, such as Mondays or Wednesdays, to commence new endeavors reflects a deeply rooted tradition shaped by astrology and numerology in Indian customs. My informant’s account underscores the intergenerational transmission of folklore and the enduring influence of family traditions. Despite personal reservations about the superstition’s efficacy, my informant continues to honor this practice out of respect for familial customs. This highlights the complex interplay between personal beliefs and cultural heritage, illustrating how folklore serves as a conduit for preserving and passing down cultural values across generations.

The superstition’s association with Vaastu, a form of Indian astrology, adds another layer of cultural depth, emphasizing the importance of harmonizing personal actions with cosmic energies for auspicious outcomes. By aligning with astrological beliefs about favorable planetary influences, individuals seek to enhance their chances of success and prosperity in their endeavors. Furthermore, my informant’s adherence to this superstition reflects broader cultural values of interconnectedness with the cosmos and the belief in personal agency within larger cosmic forces. The choice of auspicious days for new beginnings symbolizes a desire to harness positive energies and navigate life’s challenges in alignment with cosmic rhythms. It highlights the enduring significance of traditional beliefs and practices in shaping individual choices and perspectives, underscoring the rich tapestry of cultural heritage embedded within Indian folklore and the broader cultural landscape.

Gujarati/Jain Death Rituals Regarding Food

Context: The informant, A.V., is an 18 year old student with parents who immigrated from Gujarat; her family practices Jainism. Recently, her grandmother passed away, and this is what she observed immediately afterwards. Her grandmother, known as “Ba” lived with her family, and passed within the home.

Text: “When Ba passed away, a bunch of family friends came over almost immediately and when they asked my mom what they could do to help, she told them to start throwing out all the cooked food in both the refrigerator and freezer. I was really confused, so later I asked her, and she told me that if someone dies in the house, none of the cooked food is safe to eat anymore because like something about bad energy spoiling the food? Or like the aura of death in the house? I don’t remember. My cousin said it was probably because in olden times, they didn’t have much separation between the kitchen and where the death happened and also probably didn’t have good food storage, so whatever emanated from the body might end up getting in the food and making it unsafe.

The other thing was, until Ba was cremated, we weren’t allowed to make any food in the house. Family friends had to bring us food, like we couldn’t cook at all. My mom said it was partly because of the bad aura, because the house was like impure, but also partly because the spirit could linger and you want it to pass on. She said that like practically it was probably because people were supposed to have time to grieve without having to think about food, plus if people brought you food, you would have a strong community around you. Either way, it’s just kind of something you do. It doesn’t really matter if you believe in reincarnation or spirits or anything it’s just something you have to do.”

Analysis: Beyond any scientific reason that has to do with spoiled food and body-related fumes, the disposal of cooked food seems like an extension of contagious magic; as the body has died in the house, the food is no longer safe to eat because it contains that same aura of death. Rather than having an object that is once in contact always be in contact, with one having the ability to affect the other, it’s that two objects in contact with the same object (house) can affect each other. It’s almost a contagion syllogism if anything. One passing away makes the food no longer safe to eat. If anything, it’s contact magic in that the body touching the house affects the house’s purity and anything made within the house is unclean until the body is cremated, or purified.

Hinduism Gesture

Tags: Gesture, Hinduism, India, Spiritual and Religious Practice

Text

Offerings can only be given using the right hand.

Informant Info

Race/Ethnicity: Indian

Age: 22

Occupation: College Student

Residence: Northwest Arkansas, USA

Date of Performance: February 2024

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Relationship: Friend

Context

AH, the informant, is of Indian descent. Her father practices Hinduism and speaks Tulu. He has been a very influential figure in her upbringing.

Analysis

This gesture/cultural practice stems from an Indian practice where the left hand is used to cleanse the body, leaving the right hand reserved for purity exchanges. A purity that is valued in Hinduism spiritual and religious rituals, for mind, speech, and body. To use the left hand to give offerings, for example, would be considered taboo.

Tulu Proverb for Cooking

Tags: Proverb, India, Cooking, Tulu Language

Text

“Uppoo, Pulley, Moonchi”

“Salt, Sour, Chili”

Informant Info

Race/Ethnicity: Indian

Age: 22

Occupation: College Student

Residence: Northwest Arkansas, USA

Date of Performance: February 2024

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Relationship: Friend

Context

AH, the informant, is of Indian descent. Her father practices Hinduism and speaks Tulu. He has been a very influential figure in her upbringing.

Analysis

This rule of thumb is used for cooking. To have a perfect dish, in the informants words, one must add a “little bit of salt, a little bit of sour, and a little bit of chili.” This is a proverb used in Indian cuisine, inspired by their history of being one of the top spice producers/traders in the world, helping them to inspire recipes that leave a wonderful taste of culture in our mouths.

A side note, as I was doing research on this proverb, I could not find anything. After consulting with the informant, she informed me that “Tulu is mostly spoken.” An interesting fact that I found out after this conversation was that the Tulu language (with speakers concentrated in the Indian state of Karnataka) is best known for its oral traditions.

Water from a Stone – Gujarati Proverb

“પથ્થરમાંથી પાણી લો”

Translation: “getting water from a stone”.

Context: The informant, my mother, was born in India in the 1970s. She had an arranged marriage of sorts, in that she was introduced to different people from good families and could choose someone from them. They would figure out if they were compatible, and get married nearly immediately. She told me that when she was looking for someone to marry, her uncle told her one of the criteria should be to look for someone who could do this. All of my family is from Gujarat, and this is a Gujarati proverb.

If you describe someone with this phrase, it means essentially that they can make something out of any situation– if you give them a stone, they will find water in it. Typically, the “something” they could make would be money. It makes sense to advise someone not to find a man who is already rich, but one who is industrious; even if he has money now, if by circumstance he loses it all, he will be able to make it back.

Analysis: Gujarati culture tends to put a lot of value on being able to make money. It’s a good quality if you want stability in life regardless, but also it comes from years of being traders and businesspeople. A significant amount of Gujarati people are part of the merchant caste, including my family, and so it makes sense to place importance on having the creativity to get oneself out of any bad financial circumstances.

I’ve also noticed that the idea of coaxing something out of a stone (specifically blood) is a concept that can be found in other cultures’ proverbs as well. Interestingly, however, that tends to be in the context of talking about an impossible task or achieving something incredibly difficult. Here, it’s not a “you are destitute and must spin straw into gold” but instead a “you are destitute but you have the intelligence to make this straw you just found into something and the charisma to sell it to someone else”. They seem like oicotypical variations on the idea of someone achieving the difficult task of producing something useful out of something useless, with both likely rendered different by what their respective backgrounds hold relevant.