Thursday, January 22, 2009

Myths

The other day my colleague Rashmi sent me a forward on interesting myths and facts that she felt would have been a good read on my blog. They were great and got me thinking about all the myths I’ve grown up with and how they got broken eventually. The truth, they say, is painful and in my case I would say they were part of ‘growing up pains’. Anyway, here goes –
Myth 1
Santa Claus exists – For the first decade of my life I truly believed that he did. I blame my Mom for this. Every Christmas Eve, from the late seventies to the early eighties, my parents made us hang stockings near our bed, and we used to wake up next morning thrilled to see our gifts and sad to have slept through Santa’s arrival. I was shattered when I found out that Santa does not exist, that was one of the first rude shocks that I got!
Myth 2
Using Carefree or Stayfree makes you a happy person – Granted the advertisements did not say so specifically but as a child I remember watching these mighty happy and chirpy Carefree/Stayfree using women on TV and used to yearn for their state of mind. The myth was broken the day I gained ‘adulthood’. Grin…
Myth 3
The sacred fire gives you your babies – This is probably the mother of all my myths, but with all the emphasis on the ‘pavitra agni’ (sacred fire) in our good old Bollywood movies I actually thought that once the couple finished the ‘pheras;’ the bride got pregnant, and I thought it was a miracle the fire performed. When a seven year old watches a marriage scene followed by a ‘mein maa banne waali hun’ scene, what else would she think?
I once embarrassed my Mom at a wedding by asking her if the bride was pregnant now that the pheras were done. Little did I know then that getting pregnant is a different ball game altogether (pun intended)
Myth 4
There is a God saying ‘Tathaastu’ all the time – My parents forbade me and my sisters from saying anything bad about anyone/anything. Why? Because there’s a God saying Tathaastu (So be it) all the time. Is this one true? I’d like to think that it is, but my colleagues laughed at me when I told them this. So I still don’t know….
Myth 5
Soaking yourself in sea water makes you lose weight - In December 2005, I went to Goa with my colleagues from Zoom TV. I love the sea and those were the days when I thought that soaking in sea water makes you lose weight. So the minute we got to the beach I used to run in with my back to the sea, hoping to lose some weight off my ample backside. My colleague Mansi noticed me do this and told me that there were no shortcuts to losing weight.
Exactly a year later my husband and I went to Goa on our honeymoon. Imagine what my new husband would have thought of me had this myth not been shattered…Thanks Mansi - you don’t know this, but you saved my marriage!

7 comments:

T said...

Hilarious, Kanch! I hope parents these days feed better myths to their kids;-)

Kanchan said...

Thanks Tanu...surely I can't be the only one with such experiences? :-)

T said...

Oh you are not! I grew up with all sorts of myths too, some courtesy my parents and then there were other sources too:-)

Subhadip said...

Ha ha... these are funny myths. Must say you have good memory... I don't even remember how I found the truth about some of the myths.

Unknown said...

Hi Kanch,

Nice article. Good to read. About "Tathaastu", I found this in the "Though for the Day" section of the Sai Baba website: The Bhagavad Gita declares "Sarvatah Paani Paadam Tat Sarvathokshi Shiromukham, Sarvatah Shruthimalloke Sarvamavruthya Thishthati" (God is omnipresent with His hands, feet, eyes, heads, mouths and ears pervading everywhere, He permeates the entire universe). Nothing escapes His attention. Therefore, we should always keep our minds filled with good thoughts as God is constantly pronouncing the blessing of fulfilment saying 'Tathaasthu' (so be it!)."
I remember mom saying this, and it is etched in our memories. Unfortunately, owing to my carelessness, I do not practice it at all times. Thank you for reminding me of this.

Kanchan said...

Thanks Apps...that is a lovely thought for the day. I tend to forget this often too, but am trying to make it a practise now.

Neelesh said...

Read your blog for the first time today. Excellent stuff. I was smiling throughout the post.
Hope to read more in the coming days.