Patriots for a day

Rules for the day 

I make lists of all kinds. Additionally, I make a mental list, categorizing people with or without scientific temper too. But the ‘without’ list is so long that if somebody whom I had thought of as in the ‘with’ list, somehow leans a fraction of a millimetre to the grey area in between, it begins to rattle my trust.  It stupefies me into silence, a feat which very few matters manage to do to my unidirectional brain-tongue coordination.

So when a doctor friend told me she kept fast on the four Shravan Mondays, it was with a gargantuan effort that I swallowed my reaction without airing it as I did when my very logical doctor sister-in-law told me she did not take ‘non-vegetarian’ food on Tuesdays.

In my life, the days of the week are very much as Snoopy has expressed. So, I reasoned with myself that it was their belief and I had no right to contest that. But that directed my attention to the superstitions we have in India about the days of the week.

No, it is not about religion or superstitions in general or those connected with birds and animals or even Friday the thirteenth, though I would love to dwell on them some day. I do not know astrology, so I dare not go into that too. For the nonce, I am just sharing a list of beliefs or should I say superstitions, connected with each day of the week.

In the Hindu calendar, out of the seven days in a week, five are named after planets Mangalvaar (Tuesday)- Mars, Budhvaar (Wednesday)- Mercury, Veervaar or Brihspativaar (Thursday)- Jupiter, Shukrvaar (Friday)- Venus, Shanivaar (Saturday)- Saturn, besides Somvaar (Monday) - Moon, Ravivaar (Sunday)- Sun. It is believed that the days are ruled by these celestial bodies, hence it is every human’s duty to keep the gods happy by either keeping a fast or following some inexplicable norms. Though why would the gods want us to go hungry or give up some foods or follow a particular diet just one day a week, is beyond me.

Monday, though the day of the moon, is also the day of Lord Shiva, who wears the moon on his head. Those who want to please the lord, might keep a fast on that day when they avoid eating even salt and cereals. Some keep a fast on the four Mondays of the Hindu month of Shravana. Girls desirous of getting married keep a fast for 16 consecutive Mondays to please Lord Shiva because he is considered to be the ideal husband, even though looking at his images, one would seriously tend to doubt that. Who is not familiar with the Monday blues? But the popular Indian belief is that an assignment joined on Monday does not last long. Either one leaves the position or moves to a new location in the same job.   

Tuesday is ruled by Mars but is also the day of Lord Hanuman. It is the day when consumption of meat and alcohol, and cutting of hair and nails are forbidden. Some people avoid travelling too. I remember Sheela mausi, an old lady in the neighbourhood, used to say you should worship Lord Hanuman only after 12 pm when his shift of Lord Rama’s seva (service) ends.  

Wednesday is kind of no holds barred day although some people do not wash hair. Generally Wednesday is counted as a good day Buddh kamm suddh i.e., all works done on Wednesdays come to fruition. So even if it is mid-week, Mercury gives you absolute freedom to eat and drink like nobody’s business and as much as you like, besides doing whatever work you want to.

The Lord of Thursday is too selective for our convenience. It is said that there should be no washing or cutting of hair, shaving of beard or clipping of nails. People who do not want to invite the wrath of Brihspati also avoid pruning or cutting banana plants, eating bottle gourd or urad dal. There is a colour chart for the whole week for the believers which should immensely please women who have thus a reason to wear a dress of a different colour each day. According to this, Thursday is also the day of Lord Vishnu and of using yellow. Only yellow flowers are to be offered to the god and yellow foods, especially chane ki daal eaten on this day. Who doesn’t love Karhi (yogurt soup with gramflour dumplings) yet Dr Sunayana complains that for her eight years in the King George Medical College, they were served karhi every Thursday, without fail, and now unlike most of us, she never drools on hearing ‘karhi’.

Friday is the day when use of sour food items like citrus or sour raw fruits and curd are forbidden. Women keep fast to appease the Goddesses Santoshi and Vaibhav Lakshmi and poor Venus hardly gets a chance to demand his fair due.

Saturday,  now this is a day of several nos. Saturn is one tough customer and those who want to please him, do not buy or sell metal, especially iron, oil (of any kind), buy/give/take new clothes, cut peepal tree, go to hospital for admission or even get discharged, start a new treatment or get surgery performed, get a haircut or join a new job. The two positive beliefs, however, connected with the day are- if someone goes on a journey on a Saturday, he certainly returns home. Maybe in old times when journeys were a challenge to life itself, people started their travel on Saturdays. Secondly, Saturday is considered auspicious for weddings because they are believed to last even if the ride is bumpy and the road full of potholes.

Sunday, the day of Sabbath shouts out a loud no to buying Suhag ka samaan (symbols of a married woman) like bindi, sindoor (vermilion) and bangles. The tale is that these symbols of married life are destined for a woman by God but anything bought on a Sunday is not counted among them. Does even a Hindu god take a break from arithmetic on Sunday?

My family has always ignored these beliefs, yet the only superstition preached by my nani (mother’s mother) was not to water the tulsi (holy basil) plant or pluck its leaves on a Sunday as it is a symbol of Gauri (Parvati, Lord Shiva’s consort) who visits her parents’ house on that day. Some people also warn against cutting peepal tree on this day.

Then there are some superstitions related to days in the lunar cycle. On the ekadashi (the 11th day of waning or waxing of the moon) one does not cook or eat rice while cooking and eating of rice is a must the next day of dwadashi (12^th). Similarly people keep fast on the days of the full moon (purnima) and no moon (amavasya). I am not even touching the topic of solar and lunar eclipses because there are too many beliefs and my problem is that as I write them, I start arguing in space.

Meanwhile, one does not go to anyone’s house for condolence on Sunday and Tuesday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are the days when you should do that.

One should also not give jaman (starter for yogurt) or lemons or lime to anyone on Tuesday and Sunday.

Then Diwali, one of the biggest Hindu festivals which falls on the day of no moon night, is also the kaalratri which is important for those into black magic. Yet on pareva (the day following Holi and Diwali) one is not supposed to undertake a new journey, a major expense or start a new work otherwise, I am told, it goes on for the next 15 days. It is in the interest of the students with superstitious parents to tell the latter that one is supposed to give rest to notebooks and ink pot on pareva.

Don’t cut your hair on the day of the week you were born so if you were born on a Sunday, you are not supposed to wash your hair on Sundays your whole life, whatever might happen.

The world over people have superstitions, and about the days of the week too. Yet, interestingly, the British also have their own superstitions associated with Saturday though they are kind of opposite to the Indian ones.

Source: https://strangeago.com/2018/12/22/10-unusual-saturday-superstitions/

Fingernails: Cutting your fingernails on a Saturday will only lead to disappointment.

Weddings: Saturday weddings are thought to be unlucky. Unfortunately, it is usually the one day of the week when people have a day off.

Witch hour: The midnight between Friday and Saturday is said to be a powerful hour for witches and covens.

New Moon: According to weather lore, when a new moon falls on a Saturday, the next twenty days will be wet and windy.

Baptism: Children should only be baptized on a Saturday.

Thunder: Thunder on a Saturday is said to mean a judge or a politician had passed away.

Ghosts: People born on Saturday are said to have the ability to see ghosts.

Rainbow: If you see a rainbow on a Saturday, the rest of the week will have crappy weather.

Hiring People: People hired on a Saturday never stick around.

My father had only one superstition and that was whatever you do on the New Year’s Day, you do that all the 364 days of the year. So that day saw us behaving as model children, doing everything in a manner considered perfect. Suffice to say, it was not possible to follow the rest of the year. It is interesting to find other people too have some superstitions regarding the New year day, even if only about laundry.

After you've kissed a loved one at midnight, pay heed to these laundry superstitions, says

 https://www.thespruce.com/new-years-day-laundry-superstitions-2146899

Following these suggestions won't get rid of laundry duty, but, hey, it can't hurt.

Don't do laundry on New Year's Day or a member of the family will be washed away (die) during the coming year.

Doing laundry on New Year's Day will wash a year of good fortune down the drain.

Don't do laundry on New Year's Day or you will have more laundry than usual to do all year.

Wear something new on New Year's Day to increase the likelihood of more new clothes in the coming year.

This was just a list of beliefs that I gathered from people I know. Nobody has been able to convince me about the reason, especially for why not to drink alcohol, eat meat, onion and garlic or cut or wash hair, because the rules have been passed from mothers and grandmothers for generations (why only women?). Some have argued about not flouting them out of the fear of the unknown or the gods’ curse. The believers are adamant that whatever bad has happened in my life is due to the fact that I have been disrespectful towards these rules.

Do they mean that out of the whole population on this planet, the gods of the days are only focusing on this one unknown woman following their own ‘my day, my rules’ policy?

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