The Evil Eye
Evil eye
What is an Evil Eye? It is a belief that when an Evil Eye is cast on something or someone, it is inevitably bound to face misfortune or harm in any way possible. It is usually cast by a person who is jealous or envious or even sad for the matter that they do not possess certain things or intangible qualities. How it is cast? Just one glare of yearning or envy towards the thing or person is enough to cast the Evil Eye. This could be a myth or mere folklore or a blind belief. I, the very learned person that I am; have immense belief in the powers of the Evil Eye. Why? I have a bitter incident to back my credence.
Now probing the concept intellectually, there’s a branch of studies called Noetic sciences that deal with the relationship between our thought processes and the action outcomes. If our thoughts are deeply rooted and we wish a certain thing to go our way, it would happen. Human thoughts have the power to create a positive aura and at the same time kill the daylights with the negative intentions. In the end, it’s all human psychology. If you want to believe it, it exists and if you don’t believe in it, it doesn’t have an impact on you.
It’s very simple. As simple as a compliment your friend gives you about your haircut. When they say it’s nice, you feel uplifted automatically. The whole day you feel good and do your work and wouldn’t know who to attribute the extra energy to. Unknowingly the compliment had worked out on you. If at all they say it doesn’t look good on you, it’s doomsday until the next time you go to the salon.
More than the concept or the Evil Eye itself, the stigma that it carries has made me not able to talk about it to others. Some people dispose of this matter very casually, mangling your sentiments and certain people take it to another level and spin extra nonsensical bits to it. The trauma that the Evil Eye causes is the most difficult thing to overcome. It sometimes leaves physical scars and you get scarred for life. It keeps reminding you of what you had gone through and that you are capable and well ahead of all the bad things that happened.
On 1st November 2018, it happened. I am the kind of person who would buy it if it happens to me. It was just two days after my birthday. In the noon I was getting ready to go to write my semester exam. It was equipment design paper. I had studied well and I wasn’t ready to memorize the formulae for the second time if I failed this time. I was staying at a PG away from my college and I had to ride my scooter every day. That day wasn’t special particularly. I decided to have lunch, white rice and buttermilk. (I have very poor gut immunity and my gut sure can’t handle my anxiety any better).
While I was lunching this another junior student sat beside me and said that I looked pretty and my dress was gorgeous. It wasn’t all that great, it was a routine Kurti which I had intended to wear on my birthday but I hadn’t gone out that day so I decided to wear it to college. When she complimented me I politely declined and got up to leave. I came out of the hostel, started dusting my vehicle and as I was maneuvering it out of the parking lot; I caught her glaring at me. I asked her what is up with her coming to send me off, so very unusual of her and she said that I looked really good in that dress and that she wanted to see till I left.
I started and with caution, I navigated the gully and reached the main road. I am a person who strictly follows traffic rules and more than my safety, I owe it to my OCD. I hate to drive like a nomad. And I’m not a big fan of speed. I have a range within which I abide; again I’m concerned for my comfort more than safety. That day, it started drizzling as soon as I hit the highway. I was on the road, at a very inconvenient distance from my hostel and college. Either I would have to turn around to get my raincoat so that I could drive slowly without botheration of getting wet or drive hastily so that I could seek asylum in college. It was so not me deciding to rush. I throttled so high and started zooming past other vehicles as the momentum of the rain increased. I could barely see through my glasses and the windshield of my helmet. Water was trickling inside the helmet through the gap in between the glass and my vision started blurring. There were two more cars on the same lane and I made a lame attempt at overtaking them on their left. The road was slippery and my bike got onto the gravel part of the road which is beyond the two-wheeler lane. I knew my vehicle would skid if I continued driving on it so I throttled up my vehicle back onto the road. I did not realise that the road level was severely raised from that of the gravel on the sides. I hit the front wheel onto the road and in no time I was suspended mid-air for a moment. In that second, I knew I was not going to survive. My vehicle was thrown away tangentially and I landed head and face-first on the road. The hit still reverberates in my mind. I got dragged for a few meters and in a jiffy, I stood up.
There was a mild commotion. The cars that were running parallel came to a standstill and the people started pouring out on to the spot.
I only had the thought of completing the exam. I asked the men if somebody could help me get back to my hostel so that I could change and head back to college to take up the exam and nobody was willing to help me. They all slowly retreated to their cars and parted their ways because I wasn’t dead yet. There was a string of hotels on the other side of the road and one particular manager came up to me and helped me with the fallen things and my bike. My watch was mutilated beyond recognition and my bag and its contents were strewn across the road. He stood by me and made me drink water and waited until I called my friend for help. I called my friend who also lived in my hostel but her line was engaged. So I called the girl who had lunch with me (and probably brought this on me) and told her to go to my friend’s room and ask her to call me. She told me to stay on the line and as she knocked on my friend’s door I heard her tell my friend that I needed her help and maybe I had an accident. (!!!!!!!!!!!).
As I was waiting for my friend to come to get me, this lady came running to me from nowhere and asked me if I was okay. I assured her that I was fine and she said that she saw the whole thing unfold from her balcony and the hit I had was so fatal. Only then I looked down. My white pant was red from the knee down on the right side. My tops were tattered and I had bruises on my palms, forearms, elbows, knees, feet and stomach. Blood was trickling down from my knee but I was in shock to even acknowledge the pain.
In no time my friend rushed to the spot and on our way back we got some medicines for the wound. It was real hell when she made me wash the wound with water. She asked me to be a sport and do it for her. My right knee cap was disgusting and so red to even look at. She was so brave to apply the cream and tie the wound with a mild cloth. She got me ready quickly we zoomed off to college in her car. I found it extremely difficult to walk normally.
I entered the exam hall and everybody was preoccupied with not forgetting the formulae so nobody noticed the blood and gore. I was concentrating on solving the sums so I too didn’t feel the pain for the whole three hours. Maybe I was too numb with shock.
As soon as the exam got over I skipped my way back to the parking where my friend was waiting though she had to prepare for her exams the next day. She took me to our doctor (he’s our favourite) and had me examined. I was given a TT shot and sent back. That night I just couldn’t close my eyes. The images of hitting, flying and falling were recurring in my mind. I was deeply traumatised and was too afraid to talk about this to my parents. I called up a friend and instead of speaking I was just slurring and whining the whole time.
The next week was a total nightmare. Every time I had to clean my wound with water and antiseptics was like stepping into the innermost circle of Inferno. Very slowly I told my father and he said not to freak out my mother by divulging the details. I passed the exam with a B grade (I think) which is a feat for me. When I went home my mother was not convinced that I fell off the stairs with the magnitude of my wound. Instantly she knew.
It’s been two years now and the huge scar on my right knee is still huge and I still haven’t repaired the sides of my bike (the service at the bike company is annoying and irritating). It’s an ugly detestable keloid on my knee but a symbol of survivance. The scar and the trauma still exist but I’ve come way far from that incident.
I am still afraid of the Evil Eye and I am highly susceptible to it. I have my talismans and little rituals for removing the Evil Eye. At least psychologically I’ll have an assurance that there’s no harm around me.
