Need some luck?

I just got off the phone after speaking to my cousin back in India. She is having her exams tomorrow and was feeling rather jittery and anxious. She was giving me the details of how she has prepared for the tough paper ahead tomorrow and how this time around she is making sure she is putting on her "lucky" dress and carrying her "lucky" pen for this tough paper. This got me wondering how many of us have such lucky charms?I remember how many of my friends in university relied on such lucky charms to help them sail through the exam. Though I never understood how a pebble or a string or a talisman helped them ace the paper but each of them had something or the other. Some people came all annointed with some holy red vermillion on their forehead, some came in with their lucky shirts,lucky pencils and one of them always wore one worn out on its deathbed disgusting looking pair of shoes ,he always claimed this was his magic shoes which he kept for special occasions (Ofcourse we did warn him when he went on his first date to leave this pair at home,he would not have been married today if he had decided to take that lucky pair with him). Some had lucky socks and even lucky knickers,I kid you not I don't think during a marathon exam sessions they were ever washed!Staying in a hostel is advantageous as it provides free access to everyone's dirty secrets in this case perhaps we can rephrase it as dirty laundries! I was perhaps no exception,I always carried with me a sappire ring given to me by my late grandfather always. Rationally speaking I know it perhaps really never brought me any luck as such but it was comforting to have something about which I felt attached to.

My dad always carries a pebble with him as a form of goodluck,my grandmother strongly believes one should always step out of the house or begin a venture only after the inauspicious time of the day namely the "Raahukaalam" according to Hindu calendar is over. She claims that is a reason how me and my brother successfully cleared all our exams in flying colors..hmm..so burning of the midnight oil probably didn't do the trick according to her. But then again during the exam day I would never question anything offered to me as a form of goodluck and pray harder that day and promise to God that the next exam you won't slack it off and will definitly study even harder and perhaps begin studying a few more days earlier. Hoping to learn by Osmosis we would end up sleeping over our books but curiously enough that never seemed to happen but then why fear when we have so many lucky charms at our disposal,rite?Come exam time everyone's spirituality would be strongest than ever,everyone needed some security blanket of sorts and many a times these charms offered just that. On that day you bet there were people who even though never actually believed in such stuff still getting a bit antsy if a black cat crossed their paths,avoiding walking under the ladder "just to be safe" and "not take a chance"!My brother always bribed the god in the form of number of coconuts he would offer to break in the temple if he would clear his semester exams during his engineering. He would be toiling away the previous night immersed in study and would snap at all of us who would dare disturb his great quest for knowledge at the last minute the previous day of the exam. He single handedly claims divine intervention is what actually helped him have a smooth sailing throughout his education period. He is now a MBA grad working in a big company earning big bucks and he is always armed with his set of lucky charms and talismans. Yes I come from a quirky family! we always crossed our fingers and wished hard for something that we wanted or be quick to say touch wood to ward off any bad luck. Now if only I had found one such lucky charm that would have helped me guess the next Lotto number! A horseshoe,spider,ladybug,celtic knot,egyptian scarab,chinese bamboo and all and any of the traditional charms:) Oh,well.....perhaps no amount of luck can actually compensate for hard work. Oprah was right when she said “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity" But while we prepare for that opportunity and work towards it maybe we should keep the fingers crossed,stand under a horseshoe holding a four leaf clover,knock on the wood in a room which has a chinese feng shui bamboo and a spider on the wall and say bless you as you sneeze and bribe the god some more coconuts at the temple. Hmm..sounds like we got pretty much of the charms covered,now if only someone would go out and buy a Lotto. And if you happen to win I hope you remember to share it with me:)