Written by: Jeevan Sapkota - 20116, Grade XII
Posted on: 30 January, 2020
There are beliefs that we follow without any reason. We follow those beliefs because other people have been following and we don’t want to take any risk. My father used to believe that there might be bad-luck if you see the cat crossing the road. I also used to follow this superstitious belief. I was supposed to stop my vehicle and wait until another person or vehicle passes through that road. Due to this reason, I was late at school most of the time.
“Dad, how can this innocent cat be a reason for our bad luck? Don’t you think it’s stupid?” I questioned him. He said that his parents and friends follow this and he doesn’t want to take a risk.
I researched why people follow this belief and I found out that in the 16th-century people fell sick and they didn’t know the scientific reason behind this, so they blamed the cat for their illness. There’s no point following those beliefs. I stopped following these ridiculous beliefs but I had to follow when my dad was with me.
I used to drive our car during family tours. When we were on the way to Lumbini, our car hit the other car and only my father got injured. I had some bruises but I couldn’t see my father in pain, so I drove the car to the hospital in Kawasoti. On our way to the hospital, a black cat crossed the road. I was supposed to stop the vehicle but I didn’t stop the car. If something bad happened to my dad, then I would be blamed for not stopping the car. We reached the hospital and my father got admitted. Everyone was worried about him.
Later when I visited the doctor to know about my dad’s condition, she said that we got there just in time and they were successful to save my dad’s life. If I had stopped the car and waited for another person to cross then maybe I wouldn’t have been able to see him alive. After this incident, my father and my family have stopped believing those superstitions. My family is now free from the superstition. We should ignore these superstitious beliefs as they aren’t valid from a scientific point of view.
