Saturday, November 27, 2010

Crazy Superstitions in India: a needle and thread

Yeah we all know most of these superstitions and you guys must be thinking why I'm making a big deal out of it. Not that I'm someone who is oblivious to these superstitions. But today I think it reached a limit, I feel like expressing my frustration here.

So just sometime back I realized, that by mistake, one of my new shirt's button got ripped off during washing. So I thought of getting it stitched myself. I went to a normal stationary store in search of a needle and thread.

Location: Pune. A stationary shop in BVP campus.
Time: 7:00 pm

Me(to shopkeeper): Do you have a needle and thread?
Shopkeeper: No.
Me: (Umm why not?..Chuck that) Where else can I get it?
Shopkeeper: May be at the next stationary shop..

I moved on to the next stationary shop to get the same reply from there. :( I started wondering may be stationary shops no longer sell a needle and thread.(a speculation  :D) May be I should check at a grocery store.

At the Grocery Shop:
Me(to shopkeeper): Do you sell a needle and thread? (I had to ask :D)
Shopkeeper: Yes.
Me: (Sigh of relief), Okay then Can I get one?
Shopkeeper: (Looks at the watch (around 7:30 pm)) Nope I can't sell you.
Me: (WTF??)  Why not? I'll pay you :D
Shopkeeper: Its late now.
Me: but shops are at least open till 9 'o clock, right?
Shopkeeper: Yeah but its already night and we don't sell a needle after evening.

I felt like abusing him :D but thought it would be in vain, So left the shop in the hope that this whole 'not selling after evening'  could be only this guy's thing.

But after checking out at least 7-8 grocery and stationary shops, it turned out that, its a ritual (rather a shitty superstition) to stop selling/using a needle after a diya has been lit up in puja ghar in the evening and Not to my surprise, not a single one of them following this superstition knew the reason behind why they don't sell it. 
Uff .. Crazy stuff..

One of them even went to an extent saying, that he could sell me a thread right now and I should come for the needle early next morning. (What will I do with only thread?) Still I asked, "how early?" He said, "Sooraj ki pehli kiran ke saath.... Shop opens at 6:30 am"

I felt like the helpless Jackie Shroff from the movie Border, begging God for the Sunrise. (Saali yeh subah hoti kyun nahi hai?? Baaaaang!!:D :D)

huh,
As a matter of fact, at the time of writing this post, I still don't know why they don't sell it? 
I'm wondering now, if climates were to change ever, (may be after 2012 predicted tragedy or something), and it happens that India's climate conditions become 6 months night and 6 months day, like Sweden, then people would wear torn out clothes for half of the year and spend next half year stitching them.
Hope you understand the Bhavna (frustration) behind this exaggeration.
And I think I now understand what the term "time" stands for, in the phrase, "a stitch in time saves nine"

19 comments:

Aruna said...

Hahaha.. interesting one :) :D

Aaaaaakash said...

I know.. try it out someday

recke said...

yeah it happened with me today so i searched the net and here i am :P

Aaaaaakash said...

:) lucky you!

Unknown said...

You described my exact experience yesterday. Exact same responses from shopkeeper and my exact thoughts at that time. Even the conversation I had regarding selling thread only is amazingly similar.

Aaaaaakash said...

The sad part is I wrote this thing, 3 years back and 2012 doomsay didn't happen, so here we are continuing the tradition in our great India.
100 में से 99 बेइमान, फिर भी मेरा भारत महान!

Unknown said...

Damn it! Exactly what happened to me in Pune last evening. Finally a tailor gave me a needle from his kit and some thread…..

Hemant Kumar Dubey said...

This happened to me today. I landed on this page trying to find the reason for the shopkeepers not selling needle at night.

Hemant
www.hemantdubey.com

Hemant Kumar Dubey said...

This happened to me today. I landed on this page trying to find the reason for the shopkeepers not selling needle at night.

Hemant
www.hemantdubey.com

Unknown said...

You should have taken it to the tailor bro.. lolz 😂

Unknown said...

Happened to me today in Thane. Came across your thread to find the reason.

Unknown said...

Happened to me today in Thane. Came across your thread to find the reason.

aaryan said...

Boss, why were you desperate for a needle that night itself! Is it that you have only one shirt?

Unknown said...

Same happened to me too in pune.. People are so superstitious

aman singh said...

Same thing happned to me in Singrauli

Hanzosiku said...

This happened to me in Lagos Nigeria, not even in India. I still couldn't get the reason behind this

Swathi ST said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Swathi ST said...

In olden days before electric bulbs were a thing, people wouldn't do tasks involving tiny yet dangerous things (needles) at night because they're easy to get misplaced and difficult to find in dark and may cause harm. That trivial habit has become an ardent legacy from our ancestors.

Unknown said...

This same thing happened with me just right now...i went to shop , shopkeeper refused me..i feel like what the....then came back home :-\ and then holding the phone searching for a reason....WHYYYYYY..?? 😂