[Hashim]

I am still pinching myself after reading this thread, I can only read such thing If I visit team-bhp forum in dream. Can't think of any relation between time and needle selling time. Why didn't you asked that shopkeeper for explanation?

[Cyrus43]

HAHAHA!! How daft can a teamBHP thread get!! We are talking about Needles!! I think this is the weirdest thread after the whole Plastic Surgery thread.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

HAHAHA!! How daft can a teamBHP thread get!! We are talking about Needles!! I think this is the weirdest thread after the whole Plastic Surgery thread.

there was a cowdung thread too that was pretty funny.

[Thad E Ginathom]

It just goes to show that that bit in the bible was right:

It is as difficult for a rich man to buy needles as it is for a camel to enter the kingdom of heaven.

[tacho]

Hilarious. I assume the shopkeeper didn't do this out of choice. The great Government of India must have had a hand in this and I wonder what their reason is. Are needles being used as weapons of mass destruction?

[Thad E Ginathom]

...and, if so, are they being so used only at night?

[tacho]

A quick google reveals this from Yahoo Answers:

"Its an indian superstition.
If you go to some petty/small stores or to a neighbour's house and ask for a needle, believe it or not, if its latter than 6 pm they wont give you one, let it be a store or a neighbour. They will lend you anything but not a needle, after 6pm.
Actually in olden days in India people built houses made of mud, especially the floors will be of mud or soil, on those days they didnt use cement or wooden floors. And in olden days there is no electricity, so after 6pm or after its dark if you missed a needle it was almost impossible to find it, and as the floors were made of mud or soil, there is a possibility that the needle might stand upright/erect and it could hurt the people who might step on it. This was the reason why people in those days never lent a needle after 6pm(after its dark).
But even now people are following it. They believe its not good to lend a needle after 6pm, without actually knowing the reall reason for that. You believe it or not i have experienced it myself, the store keeper refused to sell a needle as it was after 6pm then. I am in India."

Plzz give me a list of superstition and how they become superstition? - Yahoo! Answers

I apologize to the GoI

[shishir_bn]

+100 to what taco says. There is also one old saying that the dust collected after sweeping in the evening should not be thrown out.Here also the reason is same. In old days since there was no power kids/adults would drop things/ornaments like jewels,earrings, rings etc. So if you sweep the floor and throw the it out then these things which would have fallen on the floor will also be thrown.So to avoid that they practiced this.

[Gansan]

Ha ha! This is just a belief / superstition from yore, that some people still follow. Some examples are:

a) No stitching / lending of needles allowed in the house once the lamp in the Puja room is lit (i.e.6 PM);

b) ditto for cutting of nails and shaving;

c) Sleeping also is not allowed during the above mentioned time as that is when both Goddess Lakshmi(Shridevi) and her exact opposite (Moodevi in Tamil,may be something else in other languages) will be on their sojourns, the former will enter homes that are well lit with the inmates busy, and the latter will enter homes that are dark and the inmates sleeping! Mind you, it is OK to sleep after 8.00 PM!

d) People will also try to avoid making any kind of cash payments at their homes during this lamp lighting time, as it is inauspicious to let Laksmi leave your home! It will be alright to receive payments though! This will be followed very very strictly on Fridays.

My mother will adhere very strictly to all the above. It is as I said a superstition, and one can either wink or laugh at it as one chooses. It is similar to western beliefs about room no.13, Friday the 13th, not walking between a wall and a ladder leaning on it etc.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Ha ha! This is just a belief / superstition from yore, that some people still follow. Some examples are:

a) No stitching / lending of needles allowed in the house once the lamp in the Puja room is lit (i.e.6 PM);

The reason for this is after dark we might end up injuring our selves while stitching. We never adhere to the good things, man has always been behind the "Forbidden Things" since the days of Adam, hence the weaving of superstition.

[AltoLXI]

When we were kids, our grandmother used to tell us many such "superstitious" stuff. When asked the reason, she just used to say "Elders have told that. Just listen".
What we consider as superstitions are not superstitions at all. People might have experienced various things - good or bad - in their lifetimes and come up with distilled / crystallized wisdom for the future generations with a hope that they do not suffer. The reasons might have been lost but the summary remains. What we consider as superstitions may not be...

The other day the newspapers carried an article where a guy had needle stuck in his rib. The needle was in the bed when he went to sleep. So never sew sitting in the bed - the needle might enter the ribs when one sleeps.

[triedeverything]

Originally Posted by Hashim

I am still pinching myself after reading this thread, I can only read such thing If I visit team-bhp forum in dream. Can't think of any relation between time and needle selling time. Why didn't you asked that shopkeeper for explanation?

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

HAHAHA!! How daft can a teamBHP thread get!! We are talking about Needles!! I think this is the weirdest thread after the whole Plastic Surgery thread.

So this thread is daft on a team bhp forum, and discussing politics and is not? For pete's sake, look at the section it was posted in before adding comments that add no value! You neither knew the answer, nor were you aware of such a belief.

Not selling needles because the buyer may hurt themselves is such a dumb belief! So if they don't sell needles, what about all the needles in circulation? Today it is needles, tomorrow it could be life saving equipment? OK.. .a little far fetched

[Hashim]

Originally Posted by triedeverything

So this thread is daft on a team bhp forum, and discussing politics and is not? For pete's sake, look at the section it was posted in before adding comments that add no value! You neither knew the answer, nor were you aware of such a belief.

This topic was later moved here, and Yes I don't believe in superstition Anyway my point was if I was in his place buying needle and shopkeeper refuses me I would simply ask the shopkeeper then might write about my experience in 'Superstition thread'.

To add value to this post one superstition from my mechanic. He said not to have any broken glass in car. My headlight glass had a fine hairline like crack which was barely visible but my mechanic spotted it and forced me to change headlight glass immediately.

[EssYouWe]

Haha nice reads for boring nights. That is why I love this section!

Engaging the first gear before the reverse is something I have been doing ever since I started driving. I guess it helps free the gears a bit. Also, in the older cars, it used to be difficult to slot it straight into reverse.

Another thing is if my car stalls the first time (a carb Zen is no one's friend in the winters), I pray for a while and then move on.

Most of the stuff has no logic, but then I have gotten used to them and derive a false sense of comfort from them.

They say you shouldn't keep a stalled clock in your room... In the two years when I was slogging my way into a decent engineering college, my clock stood still at 5:15. Never had any problems with it!

No buying metallic stuff on Saturday is followed.

Up north, most of the hair salons would be closed on Tuesdays. On my recent visit to Pune, I found it was not the case there.
Do you guys down south believe in something like no haircuts/washes on Tuesday?

[shankar.balan]

superstitions I ve seen others subscribe to:
1. start the car, idle a bit, engage first gear and move Forward first rather than backwards.

habits/ (maybe superstitious) that I subscribe to myself- largely because ive always seen my dad do the same since i was a kid:
1.get in the car, do a quick prayer to the idol of my favourite god in the car, start it, idle a bit and then typically reverse out and get away.
2. whenever I pass a shrine or temple or church I involuntarily make a little prayer for safe journeys.
3. en route the hills - either ooty or coorg, always stop at the little shrines at the entrance to the district and pray/ do a small puja for the vehicle.