Old beliefs and their scientific reasons

there are so many such beliefs that our ancestors followed.. I remember few of them..

should drink water from copper vessel in the early morning.. Copper helps to prevent many diseases.. Drinking water from copper vessels helps to replenish the body,s requirement of copper..

should not perform or buy any new things on the Amavasya .. I am not sure why amavasya is considered as evil..i m sure there is scientific reason for this as well..

Belief : Application of Tilak or Kumkum on the forehead

Scientific reason :On the forehead, between the two  eyebrows, the spot is considered as a major nerve point in human body. The Tlak is believed  to prevent loss of Energy. The Red Kumkum between the eyebrows is said to retain energy in the human body and control various levels of concentration . While applying Kumkum, the points on the Mid - brow region Ajna chakra, the Sixth primary Chakra or energy point in the human body is automatically pressed. The additional advantage is , the pressure exerted helps in blood supply to the Face muscles,

There are bound to be valid reasons for any practice to become a norm. However wearing kumkum may have its own benefits but the cruelty of Hindu custom prevents widows from wearing it or getting any benefits . Thankfully now that practice is over and done with 

Recently I attended a marriage function. I and my friend watching the marriage proceedings. My friend, sitting by my side, whispered  in my ear,  pointing towards a young woman  wearing a silk colorful Pattu sari,  actively roaming all over the Mandap. I said I do not know anything about the woman.. My friend said that she was a widow. I was naturally astonished because the Marriage was taking place in an orthodox family, where Widows are not allowed  wearing Kumkum and a colorful Pattu Sari.. Then my friend said, now a days even in Orthodox families no one is following those time worn customs. Now Widow remarriages are taking place

 I don't say such things are happening regularly. But  the trend has changed. I have seen widowed  working women attending offices wearing Bindi , clad in colorful dresses and saris.

rambabu wrote:

Recently I attended a marriage function. I and my friend watching the marriage proceedings. My friend, sitting by my side, whispered  in my ear,  pointing towards a young woman  wearing a silk colorful Pattu sari,  actively roaming all over the Mandap. I said I do not know anything about the woman.. My friend said that she was a widow. I was naturally astonished because the Marriage was taking place in an orthodox family, where Widows are not allowed  wearing Kumkum and a colorful Pattu Sari.. Then my friend said, now a days even in Orthodox families no one is following those time worn customs. Now Widow remarriages are taking place

 I don't say such things are happening regularly. But  the trend has changed. I have seen widowed  working women attending offices wearing Bindi , clad in colorful dresses and saris.

Yes trend is changing, widows are also human being, they have right to spend their life as they wants.

anil wrote:

rambabu wrote:

Recently I attended a marriage function. I and my friend watching the marriage proceedings. My friend, sitting by my side, whispered  in my ear,  pointing towards a young woman  wearing a silk colorful Pattu sari,  actively roaming all over the Mandap. I said I do not know anything about the woman.. My friend said that she was a widow. I was naturally astonished because the Marriage was taking place in an orthodox family, where Widows are not allowed  wearing Kumkum and a colorful Pattu Sari.. Then my friend said, now a days even in Orthodox families no one is following those time worn customs. Now Widow remarriages are taking place

 I don't say such things are happening regularly. But  the trend has changed. I have seen widowed  working women attending offices wearing Bindi , clad in colorful dresses and saris.

Yes trend is changing, widows are also human being, they have right to spend their life as they wants.

Owing to the sincere efforts of some Social Activists, now , the Widows are slowly Joining the mainstream and they are being accepted by the Society. Even the orthodox people started seeing them as normal people. Recently,  I have been seeing, some  . The most heartening thing I noticed is that a few NGOs are offering incentives for those, who come forward to marry Widows. We need more and more of such activities.

The very fact that Widows need to be accepted by the society and NGOs need to bribe people to marry them shows how underdeveloped and mentally backward we are as a nation ..that is pathetic! 

Whatever the scientific reasons be but in earlier days the Hindus had some awful practices. Widows were treated very badly. Earlier among the Bengali community the widows were made to wear plain white saree and they were not allowed to eat non-veg. Even the red coloured lentil (masoor dal) was not allowed. The reason was that such food generates heat in the body. It was made the rule due to men's sick mentality. They wanted to curb the body's basic urge of the widows while widowers were free to wear and eat whatever they liked. The rule maker's thought process was sickening because they forgot that body heat is important to tolerate the cold during winter. Thank God! The thought process has undergone a great change and now every family stands quite strongly behind the widows. They do not allow them to wear white saree or eat only veg and so on.

Now, thankfully Widows are setting aside all  those superstitious time worn  beliefs. Widows are entering the religious places, wearing Sindoor on their foreheads donning sarees of their liking. 

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

Whatever the scientific reasons be but in earlier days the Hindus had some awful practices. Widows were treated very badly. Earlier among the Bengali community the widows were made to wear plain white saree and they were not allowed to eat non-veg. Even the red coloured lentil (masoor dal) was not allowed. The reason was that such food generates heat in the body. It was made the rule due to men's sick mentality. They wanted to curb the body's basic urge of the widows while widowers were free to wear and eat whatever they liked. The rule maker's thought process was sickening because they forgot that body heat is important to tolerate the cold during winter. Thank God! The thought process has undergone a great change and now every family stands quite strongly behind the widows. They do not allow them to wear white saree or eat only veg and so on.

My maid was widowed at a early age , just 24 and we encouraged her to carry on being normal without giving up or changing any of her lifestyle. She hails from a remote village in North Karnataka where people are blindly superstitious. So when she went there she wd change her appearance accordingly. But of late slowly things have changed there too and now since she has remarried, she faces no problem. But the very fact that the society and some people have the audacity to question another 'woman's ' lifestyle is in itself deplorable. The more you give importance to their words and opinion, the more power they have to bend you and hurt you..

One should be daring to go against such deep rooted superstitions. The more you fear about  "What others think, " the more you will be suppressed by the Society. A few of those widows rose against the Society and gone for remarriage. But rarely.

In fact, a Social reformer, Kandukuri Veeresa Lingam started the , " Widow remarriage " revolution in Rajamandry, AP as early as 1861. It's difficult to uproot these deep rooted superstitions in one day.

Scientific reasons can better be told by Scientists rather than others. 

usha manohar wrote:

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

Whatever the scientific reasons be but in earlier days the Hindus had some awful practices. Widows were treated very badly. Earlier among the Bengali community the widows were made to wear plain white saree and they were not allowed to eat non-veg. Even the red coloured lentil (masoor dal) was not allowed. The reason was that such food generates heat in the body. It was made the rule due to men's sick mentality. They wanted to curb the body's basic urge of the widows while widowers were free to wear and eat whatever they liked. The rule maker's thought process was sickening because they forgot that body heat is important to tolerate the cold during winter. Thank God! The thought process has undergone a great change and now every family stands quite strongly behind the widows. They do not allow them to wear white saree or eat only veg and so on.

My maid was widowed at a early age , just 24 and we encouraged her to carry on being normal without giving up or changing any of her lifestyle. She hails from a remote village in North Karnataka where people are blindly superstitious. So when she went there she wd change her appearance accordingly. But of late slowly things have changed there too and now since she has remarried, she faces no problem. But the very fact that the society and some people have the audacity to question another 'woman's ' lifestyle is in itself deplorable. The more you give importance to their words and opinion, the more power they have to bend you and hurt you..

It's really deplorable. I am not aware what happens in the interiors of Bengal but in cities among the educated lot the life of the widows have really changed and definitely changed for the better. It's disgusting when I see women make snide remarks on widows. Earlier widows were made to shave their heads but why just to make them look ugly. What a mental torture! The worst part is till date it's the women who make the widow feel that she should not put vermilion on her head any more and so on. Horrible rituals! 

Women too should rebel and insist on a widower's Head should be shaved off . He should not be allowed to take part in marriages and religious functions.  It's only then the scenario would be changed. For this to happen women should be emancipated.  Till then the man dominated  society will not open its eyes. Education will help in this regard.  But, in some states a change has started. In my state, I have seen women are wearing Bindi and attending the Marriages. Even entering the Temples to perform Pujas. To sum up, a change is seen. Over a period of time, I hope the conditions will be far better.

 High time NCW should enter and fight against the discrimination and suppression of women.

Tit for tat is a very immature measure , showing a childish mentality ! What is needed is  , for women  to simply stop caring for public opinion and go on with their life like they did before they got married . Wearing bindi, mangal sutra are all symbolic and nowadays married women do not give any importance  to such superficial symbols. At the same time those who are happy wearing them shd do so not because the society expects them to do so but because it  holds some deeper meaning to them..

Agreed. But I feel National Council for women can intervene llike in the case AA leader case