Superstitions: Why you should believe in them

I have never thought of pondering upon the presence or absence of superstitions,because  I've never believed that they exist. But yet, I continue to support them in a way or the other: I wear a 'kada',I believe in lighting up the incense stick infront of the god's idols before starting my day and some other gestures supporting it,too. Lately,Iv observed,it's just not me who supports them, but everyone around me does..and yes,I mean EVERYONE,just the level of practicing differs.

Now think about it : we,the educated ones,condemn the illiterates for practicing the "rigorous" superstitious practices,but we don't mind practicing them by ourselves. Well,Iam not supporting here the yogi babas who wouldn't even mind crushing a newly born's head by dancing insanely over him in the name of "freeing his body from the clutches of evil spirits"(it actually happened! The poor child died after a long struggle) but all Iam saying is,if we are educated enough to differentiate between the good and the bad,then why do we still support these superstitious beliefs?

I read it somewhere:One study found that a group of seemingly rational Princeton students nonetheless believed that they had influenced the Super Bowl just by watching it on TV. It's just not this,I have a huge list of the most funny superstitious beliefs in my closet,out of which some are as follows:

1. In Russia, the students follow a "freebie-catching" ritual  one night before their exam. Freebies refer to a good grade that a student may get when he has not prepared for the exam. So,the students shake out their book out of the window,in the air,saying "come freebie! No matter big or small,come!" and the book is closed,not opened till the exam time next day.

2. The "hollow bread" superstition: If you cut down a loaf and happen to find a hole in the loaf,the hole would signify a coffin and someone around you was to face death soon. Many people in the world still continue to believe in it. If it were so,I believe the bread maker should be arrested...for being guilty of making a bread with a hole :D

3.Black cat crossing your path: The poor creature would never have thought himself that his existence would be considered inauspicious. We see people,no matter how much they would be running late,still would not mind joining the queue of people waiting for someone to break the demarcation set by the black cat. A black cat is believed to have the soul of Satan himself. Poor overhyped creature.

4. Spilling salt: People seem to have a lot of issues with salt- its the notorious one in the superstitious world. Salt is considered to be a commodity that invites devil spirits. There are a lot of facts related to this,some of which are even written in Bible.So look before you take the act of splling salt forgranted,for you may be knocked down by devils :p

But is all this brouhaha worthy? I believe in a sense,yes.
Superstitions at times help you to find a rational logic out the the irrational,reasons why things around you are that way. When we don't find a reason,why you are living life in a misery,while the other person you know who is cunning to an unbelievable extent is happier than you are,you blame it on the "karma". You always have the support of "what is destined will happen,your efforts will make no changes" when you fail to make a change,then be it an explanation to why you weren't able to score good in an exam for which you had prepared to excellency. You always have the fear of the god in mind,which saves you,at times from doing the bad.."apni karni sabko bhugatni padti hai",remember? 

So lets accept it,in totality: Superstitions have no downside,unless they create an obsession or psychosis.They are for our good..leave alone the ideas of using them as a vindication of your mistake/lack of sincerity in trying to bring about the change. You  CANNOT blame the freebie for not scoring good,or you CANNOT blame the destiny for you choosing the wrong path.
So next time you see your classmate adorning a "mathateeka" for his exam, do not make the fun out of it,for there is even a study which says that superstitions do help in bringing luck . Maybe,he would score better than you just by mere gesture,who knows!