Silly superstitions...
By vanny
@vandana7 (98830)
India
June 13, 2010 6:54am CST
I was in Pilani, Rajasthan, and we had ample peacocks there (hopefully they are still there). We used to collect those peacock leaves and place them between the leaves of our books, because one of the girls had mentioned that if we kept it like that, after one month young peacocks would come out. It used to be tough to wait so every other day, I used to check whether young peacocks are forming. :)
Today it is raining, and I remember those peacocks in my hostel campus. I thought that was rather silly, especially since I'd seen the large eggs of peacocks. But I was young, and I wanted to believe in such things. Have you ever done something like this?
5 people like this
21 responses
@consultrainer (4992)
• India
17 Jun 10
when were you in PILANI? .. oh. I loved to sit and ramble and rant at the foot steps of the SARASWATHI temple there. And, all the peacocks.. YES. it is not a DESERT place at all! .. sad that they now have a BITS at every other end of the INDIAN states. AND not just at PILANI and RANCHI. how sad@
and, while I was at 2nd and 3rd standard, We too used to have those peacock feathers .. stuffed in books, amid the pages.. and fed with book-page scraps. It was mandatory not to look for atleast a month, but, we could not resist... just as you said.
@consultrainer (4992)
• India
17 Jun 10
i was not even in my mom's womb... 
I went there in 1986. But, why were you there? is your dad a professor/lecturer in PILANI .. or worked in RAJASTHAN? .. HOPE you were the jewel of his crown.. at that age!
If you are ready to bear all the expenses, .. (mind you, I am a heavy spender!!!)... I will sure spare some weeks to take you over to the desert. 
I went there in 1986. But, why were you there? is your dad a professor/lecturer in PILANI .. or worked in RAJASTHAN? .. HOPE you were the jewel of his crown.. at that age!
If you are ready to bear all the expenses, .. (mind you, I am a heavy spender!!!)... I will sure spare some weeks to take you over to the desert. @vandana7 (98830)
• India
17 Jun 10
My father was in ACC - there is a factory - in Surajpur, Bhupendra Cement Works, Ambala District, Haryana. It was sold a couple of years ago. I ultimately wanted to settle there. :) I think that part of my life is truly beautiful. :) I was in Birla Balika Vidya Peeth, then Hindi medium. :) I got to see it on the net, the same fountain at the front entrance is still there! And even the other fountain inside where there were some fishes. And the prayer room, wow. It felt good. Of course, Saraswati temple, and Shiva temple. I dreamt of that for ages. I could no longer decide whether it was something I saw in real life or whether it is one of those things you see in dreams till net showed me. :) Thanks CT. Feels good to have some sort of bonding. :)
So glad to know you were in Pilani! One of the fondest hope I have is to visit it someday! My papa is too old, so I am going to trouble you to do the needful. 
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
13 Jun 10
Nope i never carried them hoping a young peacock would pop out from my book lol---few of my friends said it acts like a lucky charm so i had them in my books and it was fun to play around with those leaves---especially poking someones nose whilst they are sleeping haha
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
13 Jun 10
i did mention the silly thing i used to do with those feathers 
1 person likes this
@SViswan (12051)
• India
4 Feb 11
I'm sure I probably did some such silly stuff when I was young. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one right now :P
I remember the girls keeping peacock feathers inside books and thinking they would give 'birth' to more such peacock feathers. I never believed that or did it.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
14 Jun 10
hi vandana long time no see. anyway when I was in my teens
I sent off for a seahorse and put it in a glass bowl and
waited and waited to see it bear little sea horses but
it never did. I was so disappointed as the literature said
it would bear baby sea horses. it may have had some tiny eggs'gut we never could find any.somehow something made the poor seahorse
sick and my mom suggested it might be a male.well not knowing a
single thing about sea horses I was almost glad when the poor
thing expired.I haven't thought of that in years.Odd what we
want to believe when we are kids.
1 person likes this
@goddessjes (788)
• Philippines
13 Jun 10
hi there. it's really nice reading superstitious beliefs from different nations. we all have equal share of weird beliefs.
just to share, from where i come from, (i just don't know if this is uniquely ours) when someone accidentally or unknowingly wears his/her shirt inside out, that would mean money will come in.
also, i don't really know the explanation because no one knows, when people are eating then someone leaves the house, everyone on the table should rotate all their plates. this is to keep the traveler safe on the road. i don't know what's the connection in there. but we still do it.
1 person likes this
@sunnycool (12714)
• India
13 Jun 10
I do wear my T-shirt in reverse order lol so i shall await for some money next time
Rotate the plates in the sense---your family members exchange your plates ?
Rotate the plates in the sense---your family members exchange your plates ?1 person likes this
@saphrina (31552)
• South Africa
13 Jun 10
uuummm, as you now know how big those eggs are, we won't dwell on that subject.
I used to try that with some crab eggs. Imagine my temper and the mess it made. I used a dishtowel, though. TATA.
It equates us, does it not? 
@vijayanths (7877)
• India
13 Jun 10
Hi, Vandana, you did not tell me what was your age when you had this faith?
I was also young like you and told the same thing by others and beleive I could not believe it even at that age.
I have some other silly sentiments.
BTW do you still expect young peacocks to come out?
By the way, stem cell research is showing some way like that! They can pick a stem cell from that and grow it into another peacock. :) The only problem is, we do not know if such peacock would eat human beings. 
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
13 Jun 10
Hi vanadana: Litle boys or girls are usually innocent so they are easy to convince on doing things even if they are silly. I have beleived in some silly supersticions too. I remember that when I was nine years old, i bought for some dollars a beautiful white rock to a girl that study with me in my school because she told me that this rock would give me luck. Can you imagine? Yes, little kids are easy to influence. And at this moment I beleive in this. Thanks for starting this discussion. Have a nice day.
ALVARO
@otrakesavabux (24)
• India
13 Jun 10
iam from tirupati, andra pradesh now iam complted mca waiting for my father job hey vandana do u know wat is meaning of vanddana pls tel me dear frnd. and who is this cute girl i like this cute gal(miss rajasthani)
@mturacom (632)
• India
13 Jun 10
I myself belong to Rajasthan itself, particularly Sikar. I had also seen children keeping bird's fur in their books and copies. But the superstition behind was that it will help them in studying better.
Its just fun to think about those beliefs.
Anyway Nice To Meet You!
Nice to meet you too. :)
@lovieron (129)
• Philippines
13 Jun 10
in our country there was this belief that at the first day of your menstruation you should jump from the 3rd step of your stairs so that you would only have three day of menstruation, and you have to put the blood that comes out on the first day(once in your lifetime) on your face so that you wouldn't have any pimples(sure it was unethical but i have done it).
it was so silly but i think there's nothing wrong with that for you have to do it once in your lifetime though the outcome is that i still have 5day menstruation and have pimples(LOL)
@Kalyni2011 (3496)
• India
26 Mar 11
I think all girls and guys in our time used to do this, we were told it brings goodluck and increases memory power
my sons and daughter used to keep, even my grand kids do this, it is not superstition just kind of faith
have a nice weekend
cheers
kalyani
@Kalyni2011 (3496)
• India
26 Mar 11
vandanaji
Yes while in middle school i too used to keep peacock feathers inside book, we were told it increased memory power and brings good luck
I think almost all girls and guys did in our time, even my sons and daughters did
I told this to my grand daughters who read in convent school in hyderabad, they asked me to get it, believe me i tried my best to get atleast two, but no where i could get..
thanks for this nice post
have a nice week end
kalyani
@cyberfluf (4996)
• Netherlands
13 Jun 10
I don't think it's silly, it's the beauty of being a child and believing anything and everything is possible. We tend to lose that when we grow older which is a shame. We hurt nobody by believing, and even though this example might sound a bit silly, people who aim for the stars and believe that anything is true are mostly the people who archieve their dreams. Because they see no barriers.
@Buchi_bulla (8298)
• India
15 Jun 10
Yes dear, there are so many silly superstitions that I believed in my childhood. I too kept peacock feather in my book and was watching it everyday to find another small feather with it. Somebody said Gods will come on the sky at the time of evening, here I was sitting on the terrace and watching the sky to find the Gods. My fried said moon will come on the hill in the evening to meet her, I, along with my friends, went to the hill and was looking at the Moon. Now everything sounds ridiculous. But that was childhood.
@patms1 (521)
• United States
14 Jun 10
I believe most superstitions are in fact cautionary tales. As an example if you brake a mirror you will have seven years bad luck. Mirrors were very expensive and only the rich could afford them. If a servant broke one they were made to pay for it or were let go with no references. Don't walk under a ladder needs no explanation. If you think of all the superstitions you know you will see what I am talking about. Not all of them are telling you to be careful but many do.
@yugasini (12836)
• Anantapur, India
14 Jun 10
hi vandana madam,
there are lot of things to believe in the world,but you are telling that all are superstitious,when i am young i too know people are keeping peacock leaves and putting it in middle of the books,but they are saying it is good for us,not tiny peacock will come,so you have studied in Pilani,means you are Bits pilani student,so you have lot of stuff with you,because still Pilani students are more clever than the other people,have a nice day 
@Professor2010 (20162)
• India
5 Feb 11
Vandanaji
Most of us while young used to keep peacock feathers in books, we were told, it will increase memory power, i never heard about the 'egg' stuff.
See all such things have some purpose, the feathers were good as page mark in a book , my daughter in laws keep too.
It is not superstition i think..
Thanks for sharing your experience
Cheers.
God bless you, have a nice day ahead.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
