As a child my family would freak out if I tried to cut my nails at night.
Growing up, I realized this was not just limited to my community, and many other Tamils experienced this.
If you were to ask people why Tamils shouldn't cut their nails at night they would say,
at night it's dark therefore you can't see.
But that's not to say before electricity Tamil people just sat in darkness after sunset. (Lamps duh!)
Logically, one can understand why it wouldn't be a good idea if you can't see properly.
But today a lot of us have electricity and yet Tamil parents or grandparents often freak out when you try to cut your fingernails at night.
So clearly, there must be another reason then, right?
Well, according to the elders, during the day your body's blood flow and circulation is generally higher due to increased activity levels.
Higher blood flow to the fingers and toes can help with the healing process if you accidentally cut too deep or your nails get damaged.
Because there will be more oxygen and nutrients going to the wounded area, wounds would typically heal quicker and more efficiently.
And turns out this is true, if you speak to any doctor or look up how wounds heal you will see that poor blood flow can decrease or prevent healing.
Okay but one can argue that people's lifestyles have drastically changed over the past 50 years.
Although this is still very applicable to a majority of people today, some people are highly active at night.
So I guess now knowing that your parents aren't just making things up,
you should decide what's best for you based on your lifestyle.
Cutting your nails at night is just one example of many,
it seems like a lot of the things that we label as superstitions that actually seem to have some logical reasoning behind them.
The only way we will be able to tell the difference if we are willing to investigate?
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