Superstition….if you ask someone to share views…most of the time reply will be similar to….

“In 21st century when science has seen stupendous growth, has remarkable achievements in its bag and still we carry on centuries old practices….i condemn it and i am totally against it.”

But, on carefully observing the phenomenon of knowledge creation, we can find that superstition has a very significant role to play in knowledge creation. There is nothing wrong in being superstitious until one starts dictating terms on someone else. It should not interfere with someone else’s life.

The reason for this being, superstition leads to scientific inquiry. The hypothesis building process is enabled by it which may be proved or may be rejected. Both are beneficial for the society as the knowledge is outcome in both case. Hence personal superstition or superstition that does not harm should be welcomed.

Taking examples from our daily life, there are various WHYs associated which became subject of inquiry:

1. Eclipse, superstition related to which has helped to answer many questions in field of astronomy. A healthy debate continues till today and both parties go deeper and deeper. Hence the outcomes are beneficial for society.

2. Yoga, for that matter saw its growth when debate started about the relevance and today their are large number of people aware of benefits of yoga.

3. Chanting of mantras, how it is significant, what are the benefits of it, have been question of scientific inquiry for many researchers.

4. Trees are not to be touched at night, this is what could have been connected to trees not liberating oxygen at night. Again a subject of inquiry.

5. Use of kapur (camphor) which is used in daily prayers, is a natural treatment for clearing congestion problems in breathing.

6. Tulsi plant, which has been given due ‘respect’ and is desired to have in one’s home. The medicinal values of which are known to everyone. A very useful plant.

7. Vastu Shashtra, there have been various contentions because of commercialization in this field. Although this has a lot to do with flow of air, natural light in building units.

8. Gems, stones, beads. People who go for right option under guidance of a real expert in this domain, benefit a lot. A poly contrast interface photography (PIP) camera shots clearly indicate variations.

9. Yagya, which were considered to be polluters of air are in fact trouble shooters, a research done in Germany proved the oxygen content of air increases when the right combination of materials are used.

I hope that i could generate some query / comments in your mind through this piece of work.