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!