Dr. Dabholkar and superstition

To my everlasting shame I heard about Dr. Dabholkar after he was murdered. But, without being defensive, I can say that even my knowing about him and his activities earlier would not have made a whit of difference to the results of my efforts, at the level of individuals and small groups, to bring a modicum of rational thinking. Let me say, if my efforts have had any results at all, they have been counterproductive.

A dear colleague, who had also over time become my family friend, lost his wife to stroke. Yesterday was the cremation. No, I am not going to talk about the rituals etc. I am not so crude, but crude and rude too, I am. You have been warned.

Now, this is about another colleague. He has this fetish (I will call it superstition after I make my case that it is): he will not wear anything in black on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Someone had told him that wearing black on the designated days will bring him bad luck. He was very proud of having followed this advice strictly, and perhaps it served him well, at least in his own perception. I have no proof that it did not, and I wish I never have one. I wish him the best not only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but also on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays when he does dare wear black, auspicious or inauspicious.

He was wearing tan, yellow etc. (starting from shoes and socks all the way up to his spectacle frame were NOT black) yesterday, a Tuesday. Yet, that day he had to console the husband who was his boss and is a very close friend. Suffice it to say, he is not any closer to or farther from the widower than I am. That is, something bad happened on the day this gentleman was wearing nothing black. And, it so happened I too was wearing nothing black; I match colors quite rigorously, which has been my habit for far longer than I can remember.

How does this square with the advice he got? Did anything bad happen to him?Obviously, no. He suffered no loss this Tuesday.

Think about the above. Is his friend’s loss bad for him? I will not put words into his mouth.

Oh, he has the defense. While the funeral was on a Tuesday, death itself was on Monday night. Oh, well … then, I will rephrase the question, with a time shift. Does wearing black on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays bring bad luck? He has no defense through the claim that whoever gave him the advice for the other three days was silent on these four days.

There is another problem. Perhaps someone in or close to the bereaved family was wearing black, either on Monday or Tuesday. Now, it matters that one’s fate is determined by what the others are wearing, from Monday through Sunday!

Now, if that is not superstition, I do not know what is. But, once this meme gets into the mind of someone, it will be a Herculean task to get that out. I am not sure even Dr. Dabholkar would have succeeded in this. And, who am I to even hope for anything better?

Raghuram Ekambaram