For the partial requirement of grade XI, English project work

(NEB)
Department of English

RELIANCE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

NAME: JENISHA BAJGAIN DEEPAK SHRESTHA
CLASS: XI ‘B’ RELIANCE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY
STREAM: SCIENCE
ROLL NO: 18
Acknowledgement
The success and final outcome of this project would not be
possible without the guidance and assistance of several people
and we are extremely fortunate to get this all along the
completion of our project work. We would like to express our
special thanks of gratitude to Mr. Deepak Shrestha as well as
department of English for providing us with a golden
opportunity to work as a team & do this wonderful project on
“Superstitions practiced by the local people.” This project
helped us in doing lots of researches and we learnt so many
things in this process. We all were definitely moved by a sense
of exhilaration while doing this project and hence thanks to
everyone whose help is a milestone to this project work.
ABSTRACT
The word superstition denotes our fear of the unknown, or a belief
in supernatural and magical powers which ostensibly control our
lives and fate. Superstitious persons could be mostly uneducated
and without any access to scientific knowledge. But, in Nepal,
educated persons have also been observed following
superstitious beliefs. It will be a great loss to society if people
blindly follow such irrational behavior. Superstitious beliefs can
also have a negative impact on the social well-being of people
because, sometimes, they are associated with harmful or abusive
behaviour. With the help of this project on superstition belief, we
will get to know more about superstitions that exist in Nepal, their
impact and consequences on society. Also, they will clearly
understand and analyse the causes, demerits and steps to
eradicate superstition.
Superstitions exist everywhere, whether you are in a city or a
village. Nepalese society is fast progressing, but still, there are
many people who have strong beliefs in superstitions. These
superstitions are expressions of the tensions and anxieties that
hold sway over humanity as it struggles down the dark alleys of
life from birth to death, haunting people irrespective of educational
status and wealth.
Table of Contents:
Unit 1:
 Introduction
 Objectives
 Methodology
 Primary Method
 Secondary Method

Unit 2:
 Procedure
 Materials Required
 Finding, Conceptual Framework

Unit 3:
 Conclusion
Introduction
Superstitions are as old as man. A belief based on ignorance
or fear is a superstition. A superstition is never rational. It is
always against the known laws of science and reasoning.
The earliest men who had no scientific knowledge fell on
easy prey to superstition. Thus, illiteracy and lack of
knowledge and capacity to reason out are the hotbeds which
generate and perpetuate superstition. Superstitions have
many forms and practices. Beliefs in charms, omens, super-
natural powers and beings, etc., have their roots in
superstitions. What is mysterious, unknown, and inexplicable
generally because fear, and fear in its turn generates
superstitions and blind-beliefs.

Thus, they originate and thrive on human ignorance’s and

blind-faith in things mysterious and unknown.
Psychologically, the sense of insecurity, fear of ill luck and
the dread of inexplicable forces in nature give birth to
superstitions. Superstitions may differ from place to place,
community to community and country to country, yet they
have common origins. They originate from fear and lack of
knowledge of things. When some phenomena cannot be
explained and understood, people start fearing them and
assign them divine and mysterious origins. In ancient times
all races and people were governed by superstitions. The
superstitions have caused mankind a lot of positive harm.
The hold of superstitions on mankind is still strong. Take, for
example, the dread of the number “13” in Nepalese society.
They regard it the most unlucky number. They avoid it at any

Cost because they think it ominous and fatalistic. It is a

taboo for them. Sacrifice of birds and animals to please the
gods and goddesses, and to atone for one’s sins, is a
common practice among many communities all over the
world. ‘Many women are still lynched because they are
mistaken for witches. People still resort to magicians and
godmen to exorcise the so-called evil spirits and their
harmful influences, and are being willingly fleeced and
duped in the process.

The purpose of education is to reduce the area of

darkness and instill among people courage, self-
confidence, and thereby free the society from the
tyranny of superstitions. Although superstitious beliefs
are still current, with the spread of education, many of
the superstitions have died. Since most of the
superstitions hinder positive action; the elders can play
a crucial role in freeing the youngsters from the yoke
of superstitions. They can explain,, to them the futility
of believing in them. Also they can set an example by
themselves not falling victim to superstitious beliefs.
Objectives
1. To believe if people still believe in superstitions in the
modern era.

2. To understand people’s concept on believing or denying

superstitions beliefs followed in their society.

3. To know the reason behind people’s faith or disbeliefs

towards superstitions practices.

4. To know about the castes or ethnic groups that are

affiliated the most by superstitions.

5. To understand whether people want to get rid of

superstitions or keep believing in them.

6. To learn if they are pressurized by their belongings to

follow superstitions or not.
Methodology

The process of collecting the information was quite difficult. In order

to collect the information, I applied the following method:

1. Primary Method

I visited some of my relatives ask and also I asked them about

education system. Also I have research how many percentage of
people practice superstitions belief in our locality. As well as I visited
many website on the Google for more knowledge.

2. Secondary Method
I read some article, newspaper, which includes the news related
superstitions where I found various news about impacts of
superstitions and impact of superstitions in our society.

 Unit 2 :
 Procedure
A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-
practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or
magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is
unknown. Superstition beliefs are the main reason why our
country is still in developing phase.
We interviewed one of the very well known person of my society
who is known for doing social work. She was also the victim of
superstitious belief in her young age because her parents were
uneducated . She used to live in village so she was forced to follow
the superstitious belief due to which she had to stay in cowshed
on her first period. Because her parents used to believe that
menstruation is not the natural process but is was some kind of
sin given by the god for girls. She got her first period on the very
special festival for brother and sister but she was unable to put
‘tika’ on her brother. Even though she grew on such environment
now she allows her daughter to everything which she was not able
to do. She has also organized many awareness program related to
menstruation so that other girls should not suffer like her.
We also interviewed one of the successful businessmen. He was
also brought up by the conservative family who used to believe on
superstitious belief. He was born on 13 th of ‘Baisakh’ so he thought
to open his first shop on his birthday but because his family used
to believe that if he opened his shop on 13 th then he won’t succeed
in this field but by going against his family he did opening of his
shop now he has more than 6 outlet of his shop in Kathmandu
valley. Now, his family also supports him in his each and every
step. Now, his family believes that 13 is the very lucky number for
them. They used to live in rent before opening this shop now they
have 5 storey house.
In today’s date both the families are against the superstition.

Ten peoples who have been living in the traditional society:

1. Sita Parajuli
2. Hari Bahadur Magar
3. Arun Adhikari
4. Himal Neupane
5. Raju Tamang
6. Sarita Gautam
7. Yasodha Magar
8. Hema Paudel
9. Shyam Sapkota
10. Shiva Paudel

 Materials required:
 Pen, pencil, diary, copy, scale, graphs, news cutting
for any superstitious events .

 Conceptual framework:
1. Segregation of the age group according to their social
background
25 female, 25 male superstitious individuals. Their age range
was 16-47. The great majority 94% were full time students who
represented a wide variety of disciplines, including the natural,
behavioral and medical, social sciences, technique, business and
trade and services.

2. Comparison between modern and traditional society

Both society needs food, water, shelter and reproduction
though they obtain these necessities in very different technical
and social ways.
They both have some form of government and basic rules or
laws.

3. Lack of development by the superstitious activities

There is evidence that positive, luck enhancing superstitions
provide psychological benefit that can improve skilled
performance. There is anxiety associated with the kinds of events
that bring out superstitions.
 It also has negative impact on the social well being of people in
society because they are highly associated with financial risk
taking and gambling behaviors.
 Findings:
Superstitious belief is the reason why our country is still developing
country. Many people still believe on superstitious belief and they also
encourage other to follow them. Superstitious beliefs are more
practiced on traditional societies because people are traditionally
known about the superstitions rather than the scientific reason behind
that. Science and superstition beliefs are pole apart yet they are the
two sides of the coin. Science is based on fact where as superstition are
the self-imposed selfish beliefs and traditionally attached. “Ghosts
residing in peepal trees”. This myth continues to prevail even today. But
the scientific reason behind this is that the trees use carbon dioxide
during the day and releases oxygen but at night, it is the other way
round. So, when you sleep under the tree, the excess carbon dioxide
level can make you feel heavy in the fist and suffocated which is
associated with the feeling of being possessed by some spirits. So
because of incomplete knowledge people started believing scientific
fact as superstitions.
IMPACT OF SUPERSTITIONS IN OUR SOCIETY:
Superstitious beliefs can have a negative impact on the social
well-being of people in society because they are highly
associated with financial risk-taking and gambling behaviors.
This study looks at the effects of different types of superstitious
belief (proactive vs. passive) on consumers' risk-taking
behaviors. Phobic (fearful) superstitions can also interfere with
our lives, and cause a lot of anxiety. For example, people who
are afraid of Friday the 13th might change travel arrangements
or skip an appointment because of unnecessary anxiety. These
types of superstitions offer no benefit at all. More often than
not, these practices even encourage witch-hunting and
witchcraft trials that further abuse women. It is noteworthy to
mention that every year, witch-hunting takes many innocent
lives in Nepal. Women are humiliated, sexually assaulted and
even beaten to death.
Photo Gallery

Women giving birth in cowshed

UNTOUCHABILITY
CONCLUSION:

If we look at it closely, there is no logic as such behind the beliefs

in superstitions. However, they have grown age-old and despite
all the scientific advancement, they are not going anywhere soon.
However, it is better to subject ourselves less to them otherwise
each moment of our life will be on the edge. Although
superstitious beliefs are still current, with the spread of
education, many of the superstitions have died. Since most of
the superstitions hinder positive action; the elders can play a
crucial role in freeing the youngsters from the yoke of
superstitions. They can explain,, to them the futility of
believing in them. Also they can set an example by
themselves not falling victim to superstitious beliefs.