HINDU HABITS

Sleeping with the head facing south or east (only dead bodies are placed with head facing the north); travelling in groups of three (either use an object to act as a 4^th person like a stone or two people leave the house first, and the third person leaves a few minutes after); after childbirth, ladies should not go to the temple for 11 days (40 days for Christians.) If there is a death in the family, no festivals should be celebrated for one year. Also, boys of the family should not get married for one year. Girls, however, can get married and it is seen as lucky if they do. If a woman has her periods, she should not cook or enter the kitchen. She should avoid touching anyone, and stay in a separate room. She should not enter granary or go to a temple or attend marriages. Penciling a black dot on the body with kajol prevents the evil eye. In marriages, you will often see a black dot on the couple`s cheeks. Left hand is inauspicious - you should not give or take anything with the left hand, especially food, gifts or money. Eating food during solar and lunar eclipse is tabooed. I have noted people say "I come" when going out of the house. It is considered inauspicious to say "I am going," which means that the person going out won't come back to the house. ‘Kolam’, a symbolic figure with a dress, is placed in vegetation or worksite of a building to avert an evil eye. Number 13 is inauspicious (two judges of the High Court of Kerala prematurely died and they used to sit in Court No. 13 and therefore the number of the court was changed to 12A.) I have noted some of the Christian ladies won’t go to distant places alone on Fridays, they believe that they won’t come back.)

Most of the customs are based on old fashioned needs of safety, cleanliness, and health. Some believes have scientific basis. Scientists have proved that at the time of solar eclipse, sun's ultra violet rays are more prominent. So it is advisable not to venture out during solar eclipse and avoid looking at it with naked eye. Avoid eating during eclipse due to the presence of micro-organisms, which are active during that time. About women and periods, the women were prohibited to work so that they get some respite from daily work during that crucial period. It was also hygienic to do so at that time, when modern amenities were not available to women. These practices were then given religious legitimacy so that people follow them. It is better to drop irrational habits.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@google.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com