If you are an Asian and you think superstition is confined to your continent, let us tell you that the most developed countries also go by the book when it comes to beliefs and bizarre customs. Ever had a chance to see students running without wearing clothes on an Indian street? In India, it’s next to impossible unless something controversial takes place.
Indians are known to worship stones as their deities and this is a centuries-old tradition but will you believe that students in the USA too follow such traditions? Yes, they kiss a rock to wish for their engagement.
Running without clothes
Williams College in Massachusetts has a unique tradition to be followed by newcomers. As per the ritual that started in 1940, before starting their classes, new-admission students run without clothes from their hostel to the regional office of the President of the US. It is believed that this practice provides them with energy.
Kiss a rock, get engaged
If you think only Indian youngsters try everything possible to get married to their loved ones, you will be surprised to know that students of Wellesley College in Massachusetts (USA), particularly girls, kiss a rock on their college campus to get engaged. This is a century-old practice and it is believed that if girls kiss this rock, they will get engaged within a year.
Hanging shoes for fortune
Tied a thread or kalava to a tree to get your wish fulfilled? Americans tie a pair of shoes, or maybe two for the very same reasons. As the students of Murray State University fall in love, the couple hangs their shoes on the tree to have good fortune. It is said that this ritual protects their love and keeps it forever. Not only do couples hang shoes but they also come back to the college even after passing out, to celebrate the anniversary. If they have a kid, they tie their shoes too along with theirs.
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This bizarre ritual actually started six decades ago with a very not-so-bizarre incident when a student was leaving his hostel after completion of his college. It is said that he didn’t want to take along his pair of shoes so he hung them on a tree in the college campus and left. Since then the students have been following this practice with a different belief though. Their faith in this can be understood by the fact that two trees have been overburdened by the shoes and now students hang and tie their shoes on the third tree.
