I remember the times, as an infant, when superstition was drummed into my ears like a brass band, and fed to my mouth like a hungry toddler.
I remember how I was once told by a house help, that any food that's exceedingly reddish has been bewitched, and to get rid of the effect, it must be heated to a very high temperature before eating.
I remember being told that if you you eat anything that has 'winch' inside during the day, you are most likely to fly in the night, when your 'spiritual upline' comes calling, in the name of the food he/she used to bewitch you.
I vividly recall how a family friend came visiting on a certain evening, and advised my Mum to always wash my lunch pack personally so she would know whether or not, I've taken food from any stranger. According to her, a certain child was given a stick of sweet alongside other pupil's, during a birthday party in school. But for the sake of home training, she didn't open it, but left it in her lunch box and forgot to inform her parents when she got home.
The story had it that while the Mother of the said child was washing the dishes, she picked her baby's lunch box and opened it to remove the contents and wash as well. Her eyes may have tricked her into believing what she saw, but the feel from hands confirmed it. Inside the food pack was the index finger of a human.
I can't forget the nights while helping out with kitchen work, I was told not to pound whatever I was pounding in the mortar too hard. Not because it was late or disturbing, but because the ghosts of dead men live underground, and the impact of my loud poundings would go directly to their heads.
Never will I forget that senior cousin of mine that gave me Star Apple to eat, and I ate everything (except the exocarp). When she asked for the seeds, I told her I swallowed them, and she began to cry. Aunty was seriously crying on my behalf, pitying her cousin who would soon have a tree grow out of his skull.
These past but funny experiences have formed my throwback collection for today.馃槀
