When speaking of education, Kerala always stays ahead of other states of the nation. Topped up with 94% in literacy rate the state works on improving or in fact increasing the educational status of the people over the years. Since the last decade an immense shift has occurred in raising educational awareness to people and it was a part of this that the state government introduced various policies to ensure every child is able to have an access towards basic educational requirements. But the actual question is that, whether the level of literacy rates that we have kept achieving over all these decades does share an avenue of understanding the logical reasoning and analysis of people? Do the self proclaimed highly educated people’s analytical rationality is even directly proportional to the literacy rate accrued?

 

Since the old ages we have come across a trend of fearing children with the stories of mythical creatures and their existence. We take pride in talking about the folklore glory that has passed on to us over the generations. It has become a common phenomena in the households to see grandparents sing the lore about the gone ages to the little ones. Fusing mystery with horror and terrifying the kids have become a part of glorifying the long lost era. Seeding the saplings of mysteries and superstitions begins here. As we grow up the seedling of superstition also grows along with us.

 

 Never whistle in the dusk; it invites the attention of snakes. If you are able to hear a dog howling identify it as death somewhere near or assume it to be a paranormal activity. The list of superstitious beliefs never ends. But can this even be connected to the form of implementing fear in the heads and minds of people so that no ray of questions arises any further. 

 

Often superstitions are weaved over as a chain of folklore as such they tend to be more convincing for the listener to believe in the underlying act. This when examined in a better manner could be further realized as it is a way of saying “no” to certain acts. As it has become a part of human nature that curiosity will be evoked only when we are restricted from doing something. In an expectation of a return behavior of disobedience our ancestors tactically cooked up lores filled in themes infused with horror and made us believe in them. As the third law of Newton’s goes “To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Jotting down the facts of certain superstitious beliefs we can identify there is an underlying fact of science. It's often heard that one should never swing his legs from a height. The belief that goes with this is such an action would bring a negative impact over your parents. But the real fact behind this is when swinging legs from a height will result in an act of losing one's balance and would fall from the height, that can possibly injure the jaw bones. The point that arises in the heads of every person is that whether this will work if the exact reason is explained to children? Children are curious beings and have the tendency to outperform such acts without understanding the after effects that may arise from the resulting activity. But the solution to the problem is never to develop a wrong and misleading understanding over a concept. At a certain point, just like another side of the coin, even when we attain the basic understanding about the reality of these facts, how open minded are we to readily accept the real science and truth behind this?

 

We since our childhood itself are forced to grow within the framework of lies and mysteriousness. The level of impact that this will have on the mental quality of the children are never considered. Kerala stands with the highest rates of literacy. The same state could be found in the list of top ten states where suicides take place and this is the same state where the government has listed to be as the one among the top three states with highest crime rates.

 

If our literacy rate is 94% the crime rate stands at 94.9%. This fact shows us how the educated community of Kerala advances to a negative shade of quality. Amazingly our literacy rate is lesser than the rate of crimes reported in the current year. If irony had a face then Kerala would have been it. 

 

These shocking details released by the government make us think about how far our educational system has improved. The education imparted to the youngsters is only concerned about how far they remember the points taught to them from a given context. We are in fact measuring the level of by-hearting power of the students. Literacy has now become a point about how many people in the given population knows how to read and write. But what these young populations understand and learn is nowhere in the concerned records. Learning and studying are two different extreme extensions, whose defining meaning should be realized. Learning is more about gaining knowledge and studying is concerned about the concepts of memory and remembering capabilities. This is where our education has failed. We gave unwanted attention to the point of remarkable success in remembering subjects rather than having our kids to gain knowledge from experiences. The reason for diverting from this focal point is the fear of failure. Because we are taught only of success. Once failed it is a forever embarkment in one's life. 

 

Kerala is renowned for its long and illustrious history of the strong presence of liberal groups and movements on a broad scale. In the available history of strong aristocrats of rationalist groups and movements focusing on the promotion of science among the masses is another important characteristic of Kerala's historical and affluent past of progressive social movements. A state that is endowed with two-thirds of the literate, is no stranger to superstitions. Occult practices and black magic beliefs are embraced by the same state. At one end you can see a literate malayali who workships a vegetarian crocodile and at the another end the same highly qualified and literate malayali indulged in cold blood murders that takes place to support the black magic and sorcery. The occurrence of heinous crimes involving occult practices have been common in Kerala. Murders in the name of human sacrifice is not something that have been developed in the culture recently. Since the time of our ancestors we were made to be a part of such occults that were misidentified to be as a part of the rituals that we were added to form a part of it. Knowingly or unknowingly, mankind was made to believe that with an active access to black magic and sorcery, men will be able to have a hand on eternal pleasure. The reasons for performing such cults were a part of belief that such sacrifices will take over the illness and negativity that are currently running in the lives of the people who perform it. 

 

With men’s advancement in the dynamic environment and interactions with masses and learning a difference in the way and manner of perceiving things have changed to a very smaller percentile. This is the very first reason why tragic incidents of human sacrifices that had taken place in the different parts of Kerala caused shock to the public. But will such incidents bring any visible change in the attributes of people? Public memory is short as they move on with the flow of the current. People have shrunken to the worlds of their own that would itself act as cocoons. Men started to restrict himself to an interactive schedule fixed up with a smaller circle. People give meager attention to the happenings that take place within their environment leading them to fall prey for such insane activities again. When the interactive circle fell, men started to indulge only with themselves. His wanting for any opportunity was restricted to being the prey of his own ego. What bothers him is what causes trouble to his natural state of living. Everything goes unbothered and ignored unless it questions his own survival. 

 

What is terrifying is that only incidents of murder attract public attention. In the veil of such black magic sexual harassment, financial fraud, physical abuses and domestic violence take place and cause no stir of movement. Though the political statutes of the state have been demanding for instilling a ban on activities usually termed as witchcraft but the level of enactment is still a question mark. Shockingly, people who are immersed in believing such practices tend to not identify health issues that arise out of psychological factors. Instilling the fear that one’s body is possessed by supernatural powers, assaulting a person under the pretext of expelling ghosts, killing of an animal or bird, prohibiting and preventing a person from taking medical treatment for any illness are some of the ways through which these acts take up. Such activities are not prevalent to any particular religion or caste. 

 

India as a nation stands 6th among the top 10 nations that have made exceptional movements in rocket science, engineering and experiments. Men have reached outer space and have landed on the moon. But as a matter of fact we the scholarly accomplished people still believe mishaps that happen in our lives are purely due to the influence of the stars in the galaxy. Every time we come across a point of difficulty we curse the time phase that we are going through. It is a surprising fact that people have believed in good and bad times. If everything goes as planned it has been identified as the positive influence of the aforementioned stars that have on humans and if not it is due to the dissatisfaction the stars have on an individual, for which a remedial measure is to be undertaken at the earliest possible for ensuring you are covered from the harmful time zone. Keralites are in a race to find "The Fault in their Stars" amidst their educational history. 

 

The point to be pondered here is that the Keralites who boast about their level of knowledge are unbeatable and comment over the inhumane activities that take place in the other part of the country are the same people who fall into the vicious trap of superstition. This could be easily traced to how our ancestral reign remains have practiced “untouchability”. A review about how we brought an end to such a system is only through brave reforms.We are creators and destroyers of the problems. This is an important piece of information in this jigsaw puzzle, the problems created and complicated by men will have a solution brought into action by the same men. Men are in fact the only creatures that behave in a way that is not sane in any form. Swami Vivekananda who called Kerala the “lunatic asylum” was right about his understanding. The people belonging to the state of Kerala tend to have bipolar perplexities in every walk of their life.  

 

By birth itself we are sworn to a legacy. But that legacy is not meant to complete your cycle of life in the lost wake of awless web of black magic. People exploit others in the name of such meaningless happenings. It must also be noted that men take up the roles of the messengers of God, some others act as the mediators of God and then there is another group who self proclaim themselves as Godly incarnations. When exploitation of people takes a turn of twist with tactics we are left behind to witness such happenings. What can be the worst extreme to happen is that a gazillion of disciples and followers go in to serve the Godly incarnations. The belief is that you suffer from a deadly disease. The option is not to take medication and advice from a medical authority but we intend to choose to go to these incarnations to take up the advantage of taking away all health troubles as easy as plucking a flower by just chanting what they sing. This points out where and how we fail as a human and where our education have failed to teach us why logicality plays an irreplaceable role in each and every single individual's life. 

 

Education is now only termed to be as a part of preliminary requirements for people just like other basic necessities of life. Education is a very powerful tool that can be used in the advancement of human’s upliftment. But the same tool will lose its value, if it cannot serve the purpose of enlightening the human minds. Education shows a phase of development for any country. But the sorcery and education hangs on to the different ends of the same sword. Faith has changed and now it is overruled by a set of misbeliefs. As already mentioned we are groomed since our childhood to believe the abnormalities and thus our subconscious mind is left to be ruled by the supremacies of superstitions. 

 

A very important question to be answered while in discussion with the concept of believability in superstitious activities and mental health of the people revolving around this concept. Psychologists and anthropologists have enunciated that people who are deep rooted in these misbeliefs are more likely to develop phobias. For this they pinpoints to an instance. People all around the world tend to have a craze in numerological concepts and it is world widely accepted that the number "13" is considered to be an unlucky number. With this in mind, taking the reference it is noted that people tend to assume 13 falling on a Friday is utmost unlucky and have seen a fair rise in road accidents. In the normal context the reasons for such occurrences at a particular point on a continuous rate will be the hot point that the authorities will check on. But at the same point having numerological theory in hand and concluding the situation with such references will be considered void. 

 

The catalog of superstitions varies to different people due to the differing contexts. Beliefs that are generally accepted throughout the country, beliefs that are relevant only to a particular state, region or community and beliefs related to the restrictions of a religion. In this whole list, superstitions vary if stated in a likert scale of rating ranging from non-harmful to harmful, we can point down certain acts that touch every segment of living. From looking at astrology and luck of the beings, the negative and positive affluence, enforced through animals and paranormal and supernatural beings,the whole zenith of irrationality begins from unharmed hanging of lime and chilly totems to performing exorcism. The satirical involvement of scholar Keralites is a pun. Seeing a black cat cross your path is an omen to expect the worst during the day. Misbeliefs as a whole make us question the authenticity of such practices. Though authenticity is not even a real point in the talk of disbeliefs. 

 

From the primitive ages itself we were trained and flexibly molded to accept the facts that do not have a real base of science. But what is the change that we were able to come across with? If the primitives had a belief in superstitions that was majorly caused out of lack of education and their inability to give a brief explanation on the real reasons for the occurrences. But now we believe in these superstitions after having access to the fundamental right of education and after having a better vision on science is the ironical duo in our lives. Our beliefs in omens and taboos are still in the apex point or else the taboos in relation to menstruation and sexuality would not still be a part of the environment we live in. Imagine seeing a peepal tree and the very first picture that would come in is the ghostly possessions that are nailed to the tree trunks. To a very greater extent the mass media communications and the entertainment industry have played their game of deepening to fix the roots of misbeliefs once again. Humans tend to develop a nature of believing in things that only give them an experience or that are capable of giving them the reliable facts of certain entity existences. With this context the malayalam media and entertainment industry have made an affluent impact in this case. Various films and other forms of enactments show how the existences of those long lost and forgotten folklore, mythical creatures and entities had some truth. A platform designed to indulge its audiences in the most relevant subjects and entertainment finds huge success, markets and most importantly viewership for such concepts. The focus should be shifted on why the filmmakers and other media people find interest in such concepts. The truth is fear that could be invoked in people. Peepal trees are symbolized to show that the negative energies are being confined to the trees with a nail. And if you happened to see any, the objectivity of such thoughts are confined to affirmation. How far should we carry this weight of unauthorized thoughts of disbeliefs? The answer is unknown.

 

In various studies conducted by various health and other organizations it was identified that superstitious beliefs and practices contribute to the growing issues of mental morbidity rate in India. What can be the worst to happen in this case is that such practices stops and prevents people completely from earning a medical aid which often leads to either complete lost mind and consciousness for the individual or even death. An individual toiled with depressive thoughts is often considered to find a cure with the end of marriage. Many studies have stated that superstitions have the capability to develop various types of phobias, and generalized anxiety disorders and depressions. The point that worsen these cases are the ways in which black magic and sorcery can be used to treat them. These are the kind of oppressive thoughts that belong to the social stigma that we all form a part of. 

 

Perspectives and opinions that are long-routed to one’s perspective angle is another factor that have contributed to the continuing momentum of bearing up the burden of scopic less rules and protocols of mystery filled superstitions. Men have the capabilities to make rational decisions that are rosen on objective thoughts. But such capabilities are often destroyed by the overpowering stigmas of black magic. Fear and faith lies on the same platter. Unless they are injected into the minds of the human beings such actions will not have any relevance. This shows us with the justification of why such practices were passed on down to every generation.

 

 

A social experiment conducted with a baby and an adult in an empty room claims to show us with a reflective answer. A baby who is unknown to the concepts of fear will explore the world around him, as he is not governed by the forces of any of the former mentioned. At the same time an adult would restrict himself from his movements. An empty and blank spaced room, though showered with enough lighting, is enough to invoke the world of fear in the head of the adult. He is positioned in a point of hallucinating things and his mind would work on the development of stories that he has heard back in his childhood. From such bases along with the imagination and anxiety trouble the adult is found to end up in a mental pressure point that can lead to trauma for the person involved. This is how deep superstitions work in our life. Human mind’s power, capabilities and potential are never estimated to know. It is to these powerful capacitated minds we are flooding with the inclusive and inceptive thoughts of superstitions embedded with fear and faith. 

Though we are leading our lives in an advanced, most modern, dynamic and educated world there are certain irrational beliefs that continue to take over our lives even in this 21st century. The very existence of sorcery believes is something that must be dealt with at the utmost earliest by identifying the travelog of the deeping roots and pulling it out completely is important to get rid of the current evils that goes in a move in our society. Superstitious beliefs form a source of potent contents that are capable enough to generate a heck of difficulty to the society which could harm an individual from different perspectives and dimensions of physical, psychological, emotional, social and financial aspects. Harm is not just restricted to people but also to animals. The real requirement is to recognize the levels and various phases in which the various degrees of education can bring about a change in the possible outcome of people's lives. Education should be treated as an instrument in lowering the effects of superstitions and cult practices. Various research papers prove that people embedded in rituals, customs and beliefs will come over with changes to a minimal amount and would comparatively take much more time to enjoy the momentum of normal life. 

 

 

Superstition and the following beliefs have had a very influential contact in the lives of the people since a longer time period. Even in the 21st century, the literate bunch of Keralites hold up the vicious values of such beliefs and the steps taken to eradicate it is still at a null point. With the growth and development of science a larger proportion of people started to realize the real effects and underlying points in grapevine conceptualized sorcery. The uncivilized and uneducated traditional populations had been identified as the major source of propagation of these beliefs, who resists against the changes and carry on such beliefs without accepting the truth of science or technology that we have advanced with. No matter how we advance in the educational levels, having even a minority community of such traditional and primitive believers always poses a challenge in prancing on to any forthcoming advancements we make. They are secured to have the capability of subverting the ideals of modern society. 

 

 

 

We human beings as a whole have been in the roller-coaster of drastic evolution for over decades. These changes are specific to the dynamicities of technological upgrades and exploration of science and technology aspects. Changes occur everywhere. We only face a minimal wave of the changes. Humans prefer to have a moving attitude with the transformations. Though we resist it initially we at the end of the day follow the trend pattern. In a close watch in studying the pattern of development of people and society we will be able to identify how far humans have traveled in knowing the real facts and bases in the happening of every concerned activity and this is the reason why we have an immense quench for scientific innovations, studies and activities. The same science has paved the way for development for the society on a whole as in a holistic way. 

 

Keralites are the ones who always stay ahead of studying and observing the changes and adapting them. Obsessed with unending craze for technology, innovations and related areas of study have displayed a very forward moving attitude while studying the changes and accepting them. The stupefying reasoning of being adamant to the superstitious beliefs have been contributed over as a subject of study in transferring legacy over the upcoming generations. Since the early ages the ancestors believed in various omens and misbelieved it to be in connection with the series of events that took place in their life. The astonishing factor here is how we are ahead of literacy, blindly following the same track. Existence even in the 21st century that we regard as a century that will be powered by artificial intelligence and overruled by technology have people lost in the sorceries and black magic. Even though, an evident notice on how the levels of superstitious beliefs have comparatively decreased over the ages we are never in a point to completely wipe off these impacting beliefs that have had ever and far reaching effects on people. Such beliefs can be considered to be a precursor over an individual’s attitude development and behavior. 

 

In reaching a further conclusion, superstitions are the final outputs manufactured from the social phenomenon that were developed from social contexts and conditions. It remains to be the only area where changes are never applicable to. This is due to the point that the basic content is constant in these beliefs and they are never subjected to any form of changes. The major reason for the basic prevalence and existence of all these beliefs is the ignorance of truth. To put an end to this misbelief that goes around in multiple names can be pulled over only by encouraging people to find the path to identify the truth in an effortful way and thus making them think with rational decisive qualities and logical reasoning to drive people reach and afford life in a more smarter ways.