My parents, an engineer and a teacher, are very logical people. They form their opinions very sensibly and scientifically. Even though they are modern and progressive in nearly every regard, they have managed to hang on to some wild superstitions from their Indian background. My Mother does not mind the occasional mirror dropped inside the house or when a black cat happens to cross her path, but when it comes to the ancient Indian superstitions, she has been scared straight. Growing up in a traditional Indian family, she was always restricted by countless superstitions. She avoided whistling and sweeping the floor at night and getting her hair cut on a Saturday. She was not devoted to these rules and did not understand the meaning behind them. Like everyone else around her, she adhered to these guidelines simply because that was the way it had always been and someone, at some point early on, probably had perfectly practical reasons for creating these regulations.

When my Mom grew up and left home to be on her own, she also left behind most of these superstitions. She did not think of them again until an eerie three-week incident. She had bought three new outfits for upcoming events that happened to each be a week apart. The day after she wore her first outfit, it was burnt by the iron. The following week, her dress ripped when it got caught on a nail. The last dress was ruined a few days after she wore it because its color ran in the wash. She was initially puzzled by the episode but then it dawned on her; one must not wear new clothes on a Tuesday. She checked her calendar and all the events in fact took place on the offending day of the week. From that day forward, she stuck to the rule and passed it on to me.

This incident provides a sociocultural perspective. The sociocultural perspective focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture. My mother carried her adhered to her cultural norms and values when she believed her clothes were destroyed by superstition. She found it more plausible that the cause of the incident was some unfounded gospel rather when it was more likely that she was just slightly careless with her belongings.