While watching CID, my kids’ favorite program on Sony TV channel, we came across a really silly yet important topic of superstitions.

The story was about a highly superstitious man who thinks that when milk boils and flows off the vessel and when mirror breaks it’s a signal of something really grave about to happen. And unfortunately his wife is killed due to fall from her balcony while drying clothes.

Taking the opportunity to discuss superstition I asked my sons about the moral of the story.

The elder one said that she should not have climbed on the stool in the balcony. The younger one said she should buy the dryer like we have. Great answers!

“But what about the milk boiling off the vessel? “

Both were not able to relate at all thankfully to the illogical connection.

But since we live in a society full of such fools, sooner or later they will come across such people who will try to explain ramifications of such events to superstitions.

So it is better to make them aware of these no brainers yet powerful social fears.

So this is how the session went ahead.

“After a fight with your friends, how do you feel?”

“Very upset and angry!”

“OK”

“That’s when I ask you to do your homework. Will you be able to concentrate and write answers neatly and correctly?”

“No way Mom, I think  write very dirty and answers mostly wrong whenever I am upset!”

“So which one is correct out of the two sentences:

A: Because you were uspet with the fight you had with your friend, your homework was shabby. Or

B: Because you had Maths homework, that you did shabbily,  made you fight with your friend?”

“Mom! It has to be the first one. How can my maths homework be the reason for my fight with my friend?”

“Good, In the same way, milk overflowing is always when you are worried about something or busy doing something and not able to switch off the gas knob at the right time. So if your day is bad it is because you are worried about something that needs to be sorted out. Your day can never be bad because the milk fell off! On the contrary, if the milk could talk it would scold you for causing the overflow as you did not pay attention to it.

So stop blaming your lack of attention and mistakes on something stupid like milk overflowing, mirror breaking or cat crossing the path.”

“Instead think and try to find the solution to your worry.”

“Got it?”

“Yes, we got it?”

“But mom then why do you say that if we pray when we wake up the day will be good? Our day will be good if we do good and not because we prayed, right?”, my younger one asked me.

Thankfully my elder one saved me.

“Because when you pray in the morning, your mind is fresh and helps you do good things.”