“Ahmed! Stop scaring away the crows! Let them sit on our balcony grill and caw. Nano told me that if a crow is cawing, it indicates that guests will be visiting our house,” Gul told Ahmed.

Ahmed and Gul were siblings and they called their maternal grandmother ‘Nano’. Gul was younger than Ahmed and was always around the old ladies of the family whenever there was a get-together. She listened to their stories and enjoyed them, but the negative effect it had was that she started believing in superstitions. And it didn’t stop there — she actually got worried and acted accordingly.

So when Gul stopped Ahmed from scaring away the crows, he chuckled a bit and told her to stop believing in these irrational notions.

“Nano is right. I remember one day, Nano and I were going to the mall and while we were crossing the road, a black cat crossed our path. Nano told me it was bad luck, something bad would happen. And sure enough, that day Nano lost her wallet in the mall,” Gul told her experience innocently.

“Gul, these things are called superstitions. The incident that you are telling me could be a coincidence merely and nothing much,” Ahmed tried to convince her.

“I don’t believe this, prove me wrong!” said Gul.

“You are very stubborn. Okay, I will show you that superstitions are not real, but for now just think, how would a crow know that some guests are going to be visiting us today? And does it have enough intelligence to understand this and come to our house and caw to inform us! Seriously, does this makes any sense to you?” asked Ahmed, smirking.

No doubt, Ahmed was being logical, but Gul was a child and had a strong belief in what she was told. One couldn’t blame her too, because she had heard adults discussing such superstitions with so much conviction, and children always consider adults to know everything. She needed to see the mirror of reality. Ahmed first took it very lightly and thought that she would understand with time eventually.

The next day, Gul was watching television with her mum while Ahmed was making his assignment on the laptop. Mum was a little tired and hence, out of habit, she started cracking her knuckles.

“Mum, don’t do that! One of my friends told me that cracking knuckles can make your finger swell,” said Gul.

“Oh darling! This isn’t true. You know that I’m a doctor, right? And let me clear it up, it is not scientifically proven that this will lead to finger swelling,” she answered. Gul had no explanation.

At night, mum, dad, Ahmed and Gul were watching a movie together. Suddenly, dad received an emergency call for which he had to leave in a hurry. Dad wore his shoes, picked up his car keys and ran to his car. Ahmed saw that his dad had forgotten to take his wallet, therefore, he shouted out from the window to tell him to take his wallet.

Ahmed gave the wallet to his dad and turned back to see Gul’s worried face. “What happened?” Ahmed inquired.

“Our neighbour, Rosy Aunty, told me, ‘If you ever call someone when the person is leaving for important work, the work gets undone or something bad happens,’ and that’s what you have done,” answered Gul.

“You and your silly superstitions! Stop believing them, they aren’t true and they are completely illogical,” said Ahmed rudely and started watching the movie with mum.

That night, Ahmed could not sleep as he kept thinking of all the things Gul had been saying. He became concerned about Gul’s mindset. Suddenly, he had an idea and knew what he had to do. This made him happy and then he fell asleep.

The next day, which was Sunday, Ahmed went to his parents’ room and told them about his concern for Gul and shared with them his plan. Hearing his plan, his parents laughed and agreed. When Gul was sitting at the table for breakfast, the rest of the family was ready for the drama they had planned. Everyone sat at the table and started having breakfast.

“Let’s go to the park today!” said dad.

Gul cheerfully replied with a “Woohooo!” and everyone agreed, according to the plan.

At the park, Gul went to the swings, Ahmed started walking with his dad and their mum went to rest on a bench. After a while, according to the plan, dad and Ahmed went in behind a large hedge and signalled to mum. So mum got up and went to Gul.

“We have to leave immediately for the hospital as Ahmed just fell from a slide. I think it was just because of that black cat which crossed Ahmed’s path. And you know your dad is also fired from his job just because Ahmed called him from behind that day when he was leaving,” mum said to Gul, trying to sound very concerned.

Gul was shocked and bewildered at the same time, she started crying. Her dad and Ahmed came out from behind the hedge and told her it was all a prank. She looked at them unbelievably.

“Now listen, yes, last night Ahmed called me from behind, but nothing happened. And yes, a black cat crossed Ahmed’s path, but nothing happened to Ahmed. In fact, that cat crosses us several times in a day, because she lives there and nothing else.

“These are basically illogical, useless and senseless practices. No good or bad luck comes because of things. What happens is a matter of destiny, of God’s Will and not based on such beliefs,” Dad explained to little Gul.

“Edmund Barke once said, ‘Superstition is the religion of feeble minds’,” Ahmed added.

“So the next time you see a black cat crossing your path, it means the black cat is going somewhere. And if someone calls you from behind, it means there is something that you or they have forgotten, or want to tell you. Nothing more than that!” said mum while laughing.

Gul felt sheepish, but also relieved as if a heavy burden was taken off from her shoulders. Realising that all the tales she had heard were just stories that people started to believe in over time, with no rational behind them, Gul started to see things from a clearer mind.

So dear readers, one shouldn’t just believe everything one hears. We should use common sense and logic, and stop finding omens and signs in every day happenings. Otherwise, life will become full of baseless fears and stress.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 29th, 2022