A week before our departure to the US, a friend called up to wish us bon voyage and was quite upset to learn that we had booked our return tickets for the 13 th of April.She being superstitious, argued with me that 13 is a number that brings misfortune."You are there for 4 months,why can't you leave a day earlier or a day later? What is the compulsion to leave on the 13th?This year is going to be very trying, being 2013."She was very concerned.This was the most convenient date for us and it being 13th did not matter. It was absurd to even think that way.
Many people believe in the luck or ill luck bestowed by numbers. A friend bought a beautiful seaside apartment on the 14th floor and happily remarked that the building did not have the 13th floor.In fact she was above the 12th floor which actually was the 13th but was numbered 14.Even the builders don't want to accept the existence of the 13th floor. For us beliefs like Friday the 13th, the devil's number etc meant nothing.
Landing in Chennai our misery began right from the start.From blocked pipes to the battery rundown car,we seemed to have trouble with everything.The washing machine, the water filter, the AC, the inverter (a life saver during the powers cuts), all needed attention.Endless complaint calls and endless hours of waiting for the persons to come and attend to the problems took away all our energy.And as if the jet lag wasn't enough I came down with a bout of viral fever.Anticipating similar problems, we had made all prior arrangements but nothing seemed to have helped. We were tired and frustrated.
Well - -- was 13 the culprit?My mind was confused and I thought it did have something to do with the state of affairs.My friend's superstitious affliction with the number brushed on to me too.No wonder people believed in it. At last, after two weeks we settled down to our usual routine. Though I still don't believe in number 13, I added a new word to my vocabulary- TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA- it means fear of 13.
Many people believe in the luck or ill luck bestowed by numbers. A friend bought a beautiful seaside apartment on the 14th floor and happily remarked that the building did not have the 13th floor.In fact she was above the 12th floor which actually was the 13th but was numbered 14.Even the builders don't want to accept the existence of the 13th floor. For us beliefs like Friday the 13th, the devil's number etc meant nothing.
Landing in Chennai our misery began right from the start.From blocked pipes to the battery rundown car,we seemed to have trouble with everything.The washing machine, the water filter, the AC, the inverter (a life saver during the powers cuts), all needed attention.Endless complaint calls and endless hours of waiting for the persons to come and attend to the problems took away all our energy.And as if the jet lag wasn't enough I came down with a bout of viral fever.Anticipating similar problems, we had made all prior arrangements but nothing seemed to have helped. We were tired and frustrated.
Well - -- was 13 the culprit?My mind was confused and I thought it did have something to do with the state of affairs.My friend's superstitious affliction with the number brushed on to me too.No wonder people believed in it. At last, after two weeks we settled down to our usual routine. Though I still don't believe in number 13, I added a new word to my vocabulary- TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA- it means fear of 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment