Some superstitions and points of ignorance among our people

In general, Nepalis are considered honest, sincere, hospitable, social, and happy. At the same time, they are also considered simple, God-fearing, hard workers, and diligent. They love foreign visitors, give them a welcoming smile, and show a welcoming approach when the tourists come across nearby and treat them with love according to the Nepali culture and the Sanskrit proverb "Atithi Devo Bhava" (Guests are equal to gods and goddesses). I know many families from Europe and the USA have established very close, loving family relations with the Nepali families just because of their hospitable nature after knowing them by chance/accidentally on their trips.

Though the people's culture, traditions, and thoughts also change with time, education, and surroundings, we still have very innocent and simple people even in the capital. In this connection, I remember a farmer from Chovar Hill who helped me in my gardening work at Balkhu, my residence. That was the time of the local municipality election. There were mainly two candidates from two different parties in his area. I asked him who among the two would be the best candidate from his point of view. He said he knew both of them well as they were from the same locality and wanted to maintain good relations equally, whether they were good or bad. He had six votes in his family. So he would vote them three each, which would make them equal. He was so simple and innocent that he did not know his vote would not serve any purpose of selecting a good person for his village if they voted for the people that way. He was a senior citizen with four grown-up kids.

Similarly, I remember a person in the position of a peon (helper in manual work) in my university office. He was honest, sincere, loyal, and polite. One day I was in the office precisely at 10 am as I usually got there without even a minute delay every day. That was my habit. I was thirsty. So I asked my peon Dhana Bahadur whether drinking water was in the filter. He said, "No, Sir, I will fill it up now and be ready soon." To my great surprise, he came to me with a glass of water within a few minutes. I could not believe it as I knew it would take hours to drop water from the upper part of the filter to the lower part filtering with the filter candlestick drop by drop. I asked him, "Dhana! You just said there was no water in the filter, but you brought the water so soon. How would it be possible to get water from the filter so soon?"

He replied," Sir! Be sure and do not think otherwise. I brought water from the filter, and there was enough water now. With great amazement, I went to see the filter and checked it. One filter candlestick was missing from the pot, and there was a big hole. So the water dropped to the lower pot without filtering quickly as soon as when you poured the water into the upper part.

He did not know that the filter candlesticks had to be there to work for filtering. It seemed he thought the water pot called a filter was enough for filtering water, and any water brought from it was pure water for him. I could not control laughing at his innocence. I realized that I had been drinking unfiltered water for a long time, and nothing terrible had happened to me.

We have many innocent but honest people in the country like them. We need to carry on our democratic system with them. So the cleverest few are exploiting and ruling us. When I saw the protesters who came to attack the Capitol Building in Washington D. C. to overturn the outgoing President Donald Trump's defeat against the President winner Joe Biden on January 6, 2021, in the U.S., I thought that it was nothing unnatural to see innocent people in the country like ours when you could see so many misguided, unwise people in the most developed country in the world.

Ours is an ancient country with many centuries-old histories, cultures, and traditions. In addition to it, we have many superstitions. I remember the one often followed in my family "Mangal Namilnu, Sani Nachhutnu" in Nepali (Do not meet on Tuesday and do not get separated on Saturday). The meeting on Tuesday is considered inauspicious. According to it, it would not be a good time to achieve your goal.

In the same way, one should not leave home and spend overnight in some other place on Saturday. That is an omen. In the same way, to visit someone on the ninth day from your last visit is also considered inauspicious for the visiting family. I remember some high-ranking master of our family got mad thinking we brought a misfortune when we visited him, forgetting it was the ninth day from the last visit.

In this context, I remember the travel story of a friend who waited several hours not crossing the road when he saw a snake crossing the road on his travel trip. In Nepal, crossing the road by a snake, mongoose, or cat is considered a bad omen. According to tradition, you should not cross that road until you see another person cross that spot. In the same manner, people also think if a crow attacks you while walking, that is inauspicious, and you need to do some puja to the gods and goddesses to prevent misfortune. Likewise, to see suddenly an empty Gagri, Ghaito, etc. (Nepali water pot, jar made out of brass and clay) on your way to distance work is also treated as a bad omen. One should proceed with the work only after seeing the jar full of water dropping a few coins into the pot. Similarly, losing a cap by accident and getting a bird's poop or pee on your head is also considered harmful.

There are many other points like the superstitions mentioned above. We have the custom of auspicious or inauspicious, good or bad in many things. Even facing your head - People are taught to avoid not putting their leg north and the head south while sleeping, and it brings harmful effects on your health.

We can find some good reasons in our customs but not in superstitions. Superstitions also come with your life and living like your culture. Superstition is the culture of feeble minds. So It is not easy to make it change.