Why Muslims were fed-up with Horrific Hindu Practices & Opted for Pakistan? I.Superstitions in India!

40. Placing Neem(Margosa) leaves around people suffering from chicken-pox.
41. Calling measles and chicken-pox by the name “Maata”. It is very common among the people of Punjab,Haryana,Himachal and Uttarakhand. The disease is attributed to a visiting ‘goddess’ or ‘maata’. Hence the name.
42. Complete abstinence from Non-Vegetarian food during fever and chicken-pox etc. Again, the “Maata” dynamic at work here. Apparently the goddess does not like the flesh of animals or eggs.
43. Not resting under a ‘Peepal’ tree after sunset for the fear of malevolent spirits.
44. There used to be a concept called ‘telad’ in the Punjabi community. It dictates that a boy-child born after three successive girls is prone to the ‘evil eye’ and hence must be subjected to ritual ‘protection’ and purification.
45. Not sweeping the floors of the house during or just after a ‘pooja’ ceremony.
46. Not consuming milk and mutton during the same meal. I guess this has Jewish roots. I remember reading something about “not boiling the kid in its mother’s milk” in the Old Testament.
47. Covering up the faces of idols of gods during a solar eclipse.
48. Ritual bath after a solar eclipse.
49. Placing a sprig of Tulsi in containers of milk during a solar eclipse.
50. The ‘buri nazar waale tera moonh kaala'(you who regard us with an evil eye, may your face be blackened!) phenomenon. Widely practiced throughout India, this is common to the Sikh,Jain and Hindu communities. It involves placing a grotesque,hideous mask prominently on the facades of newly-built houses/shops or upon newly-purchased vehicles. It is called ‘nazar battoo’ in common language. It is supposed to attract the ‘evil eye’ towards itself and destroy it. The more hideous the features of the mask, the more its benefits. Sometimes it is an image of a black shoe instead of a mask. The words ‘buri nazar waale…’ may be found inscribed prominently in some cases.
51. The superstition of ‘Sai Jyoti’. Shirdi Sai Baba is a recent deity in the North Indian pantheon and is set to supplant the staples of Hinduism such as Matarani(Durga),Krishna and Shiva. As such, ‘Sai Kirtans’ are increasingly becoming popular among the people of North especially Delhi. Many of these ‘kirtans'(religious gatherings) have a thing called ‘Akhand Sai Jyoti’. It is a lamp full of water with some oil/ghee floating atop and a wick placed in it. It is lit in remembrance of some miracle performed by Sai Baba when he lit lamps using water only( wishful thinking!). Most people call this modern ‘Akhand Jyoti’ a miracle of Sai Baba and are innocent of the knowledge that oil floats on water hence the wick is fed by the layer of oil on top. The organizers make a great show of pouring the water in the lamps and chant ‘O Sai help us light the lamps with water’. But,the water is secretly mixed with oil and ghee. I saw this at a ‘kirtan’ once and pointed it out to my aunt. I was unduly silenced and the people organizing the kirtan glowered at me for laying bare their trickery.
52. Not buying steel/iron products on Saturdays for the fear of attracting the unwanted attention of ‘Shanidev’ or Saturn. Iron/steel is sacred to ‘Shanidev’ who is essentially a malevolent influence.
53. Always donating a sum of Rs.101 instead of Rs.100 or Rs.51 instead of Rs.50. The extra rupee is supposed to bring good luck.
54. The rituals practiced during the ‘mourning period’ following a death in the family are absurd in the extreme.
55. Burning dried red-chillies to ward off evil influences. This creates an evil influence in turn-the irritating smoke that seems to choke the throat and burn the eyes!
56. A very absurd superstition is that pertaining to ‘dosha’ or flaws pertaining to the horoscope. People go to incredible lengths to iron out these flaws in the astrological/planetary scheme.
57. Consulting astrological charts and horoscopes before marriage or making an important decision.

arun Wrote:  46. Not consuming milk and mutton during the same meal. I guess this has Jewish roots. I remember reading something about “not boiling the kid in its mother’s milk” in the Old Testament.

I suspect that there are quite a few superstitions that we have borrowed, and a whole lot that we have exported. Some, such as the one about bringing bad luck by walking across a cat’s path and the one about walking under ladders are both almost universal today.

I got a couple:
58. Spilling oil from the container onto the floor is a sign of bad luck and ill omen.
59. If a framed picture of someone falls off the nail on the wall and the glass breaks, the person in the photo will be met by Death, or the family in that photo will suffer greatly.
60. Whilst praying for someone if the diya or oil lamp flame goes out, the guy you’re praying for is going to die.
61. In the Tamil Almanac (the “Snake book” as I called it in my younger days), there is a section called Lizard fortunes. If a lizard falls on (body part), this (event) will occur. Best example is head, death respectively.
62. Cutting hair on Tuesday is a no-no. barber shops are closed too!
63. Nail cutting after sun-set.
64. Never venture out on a day of a solar eclipse and take an oil bath afterward.
65. Seeing a religious (Hindu) procession on the road purely by chance on your daily travels brings good luck.
66. If you trip before leaving the house in the morning, sit down, drink a glass of water and then only leave.
67. Cats crying in pain or otherwise is bad omen.
68. Milk boiling over the stove is a bad sign.
69. Seeing a peacock is good, hearing it’s god-awful cry is bad. (On a personal note, I heard these peacocks go off like a damn siren on my trip to Warwick Castle. It rained the whole day  )
70.Seeing an elephant on your travels is good luck.
71. It’s bad of you to exchange items over the threshold separating two rooms.
72. Never sleep with your head facing north!
73. Bury your milk teeth in the soil (don’t recall why)
74. You don’t go to bed wearing new clothes. Something to do with the fact that dead people are buried/cremated in new clothes (?)
The first three superstitions are predominantly shown on Tamil soap operas as an evil premonition.