Mina Foi, Sonia’s paternal aunt, is superstitious as she thinks that since her own marriage ended in divorce, all her wedding jewels are unlucky. She had allowed her niece to try wearing a pearl bracelet with an emerald clasp. When her superstition hit her.
“It had suddenly occurred to her that she was fastening her ill luck upon Sonia: “Take it off!” (Desai, p. 10)
Even Sonia’s grandmother, Ba, also shared that opinion. She never allowed Mina Foi or Sonia to wear “unlucky” jewelry (jewellery).
Do you believe in such superstition? Besides the Indian culture, there are other cultures who believe that bad luck tags objects and people. The Chinese culture has anecdotes of the same kind. Chinese men and women who are divorced, will avoid reusing their former wedding jewelry (jewellery), and tea set.
For those unfamiliar with Chinese culture, they will wonder what is that tea set? It is the one used in the new bride and bridegroom’s tea serving ceremony. The couple has to serve tea to their two sets of parents, as a mark of respect. The parents have brought up these children to adulthood and for the offspring to show filial piety and gratitude, they participate in this tea ceremony.
If the Chinese couple’s marriage ends in divorce, their wedding attire, dowry and associated accessories, are likely to be considered unlucky and will not be used again.
The practice of meditation does not advocate the superstition of bad luck. On the contrary, we have to believe in positivity. In fact, the gist of meditation is to increase positivity by focusing on the good.
Related post: https://artmater.com/explaining-the-loneliness-of-sonia-and-sunny/