It's a man's world

The Hindu community has many superstitions including not cutting hair, nails or washing hair on certain days. If when leaving for an important mission a devout Hindu sees a garbage collector along the way, they return home believing it to be a portent of disaster. The same applies if a donkey brays which is in the animal's innate nature; it's a bad omen.

Puja is a Hindi word for prayer, often accompanied by rituals such as the offering of milk, food, flowers to stone deities and even to the moon along with the burning of incense.

Our neighbor used to count out 100,000 whole grains of rice on special occasions. It was a requirement of her faith. If she lost count at any point, she'd have to start again.

During Savitri puja, Hindu women tie yellow thread around the Banyan tree 108 times. The Banyan is considered to be symbolic of wisdom. The thread is a metaphor for the ties of a husband and wife. As a single strand it is fragile and easily broken. The women pray for the bonds of the love with their husbands to be strengthened as they tie the thread around the tree 108 times. They fast too during this puja and part of their wish is for their husband's longevity.

Husbands don't need to go without food, tie threads to trees to cultivate their love, or pray for their wife's good health and vitality.

In Hinduism the men are referred to as pati devta, husband God!! It's a man's world.