Superstitions from Nepal Sumitra from Nepal
My native country is Nepal, and we have some superstitions in our culture that might bring you good luck or bad luck. For example, if a crow sits in front of your house or above the roof, and it makes the sound “Kaa-kaa,” that means a guest will come. Other people believe that the crow predicts that something will happen. And if a bird makes a nest on your house, that’s good luck. If two people are together, and one person sneezes as the other person starts to leave, that means bad luck---something bad will happen. The person leaving must come back and stay for 4 or 5 minutes longer to cancel the bad luck, and then it’s okay to leave. If we sweep at night, we don’t sweep the pile of dust outside, we just leave it in a corner of the house until the next day. We believe that God is living in the house at night, so we don’t want to sweep God outside with the dust. If someone leaves from the house for a special purpose (wedding, first day of school, traveling), he or he has to eat some yogurt for good luck. The groom is fed yogurt by his mother before his wedding day. My mother and mother-in-law gave us yogurt before we came to the U.S., and I gave my daughter yogurt before she went to school for the first time. People can’t just borrow salt from other people. If someone borrows salt, either she pays money or she returns the salt back because the salt is considered a debt. And finally, if a woman’s left eye starts to twitch, it’s good luck, but if a man’s right eye starts to twitch, it’s bad luck.
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