Superstitions - Do you follow them?

India is home to an umpteen number of superstitions. Some are followed blindly with no particular reason and some have scientific reason hidden in them. Repeated coincidences (good or bad) have also given birth to a few blind beliefs. However, they are followed since ages and are passed on from generation to generation.

I generally do not believe and follow superstitions blindly. But....yes, there are a few, which have become a part of life of the growing up years. I remember how we used to pester our parents and elders to get a convincing answer or the reason behind any superstition when we were advised to follow some blindly. Sometimes got an alternate reason and sometimes it was a "Just do as you are told, don't question".

Here I have listed some of the common superstitions followed in India. Some of them are heard, some seen and some from my own experience.

1. When little babies or small kids sleep for unusually long hours, some guests are expected
2. Cats and dogs crying in pain or otherwise is a bad omen
3. Seeing a procession
4. Twitching of the right eye is believed to be unfortunate whereas left eye is auspicious
5. Cutting hair on Tuesday is no-no. Even the barber shops are closed at some places!
6. Item like salt, needle, curd, money etc is not to go out of house at night.
7. If a cat crosses you on your way from left to right, it’s ok to proceed. If it crosses from right to left, go three steps backwards and then proceed.
8. If you slip or if anyone sneezes while going out, you should return, sit for a while, drink some water and then proceed.
9. Not resting under a 'Peepal' tree or crossing tamarind tree after sunset for the fear of spirits and ghosts
10. A girl born as a fifth child in a family will bring good luck and wealth.
11. Cawing of a crow outside your house indicates some guests to your place
12. Continuous hiccups tells somebody is remembering you. Even continuous yawning.
13. Walking below an open ladder brings bad luck. Just walk backwards and it will reverse the bad luck
14. Never cross across the worshiped pumpkins, coconuts or lemon
15. A whole lot of superstitions are associated with solar eclipse
16. Money is always given and received from right hand only
17. Sneezing in even numbers before leaving is good while in odd numbers is bad
18. If itching in the right hand, money is expected. Itching in the foot a quarrel is awaited
19. Falling of a lizard on a person is considered extremely bad and unlucky for the person on which it falls. And further ill predictions are made based on the part of the body on which the lizard falls.
20. If a pregnant lady eats twin banana, chances of giving birth to twins is more
21. Asking questions like "Where are you going?" to somebody on their way before leaving won't serve their purpose
22. Sneezing once when somebody is making a statement indicates what they are saying is true
23. Things are never exchanged standing on the threshold of the entrance of the house
24. A bride enters her new home putting her right foot first
25. Seeing an elephant during a journey is auspicious, as it it compared to Lord Ganesha
26. A frog brings good luck if it enters the house
27. Excessive laughing is said to bring tears that is some bad news
28. Wearing the cloth inside out unknowingly brings good luck
29. Never gift your friend a handkerchief, it indicates parting
30. Never hand over the green chillies to someone by hand. It awaits a quarrel

Celebrities' Superstitions

1. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar always wears his left pad first
2. Saurav Ganguly carries a photo of his Guru in his pocket while he is playing
3. Every car Shahrukh Khan owns has the number 555 on its number plate
4. Sanjay Dutt's lucky number is 9 and any number summing up to 9.(The number place of his cars have 4545 combination)
5. The K fixation for Ekta Kapoor, Karan Johar and RakeshRoshan

I feel with time these blind beliefs are sure to vanish. As we are growing up either we have found the scientific reason behind them ( if any) or have stopped following them because they no more are proving unlucky and inauspicious for us.