[Scene: A small, lively South Indian restaurant in Madurai. Rajesh and Arun are seated at a table, waiting for their masala dosas. The aroma of filter coffee fills the air.]
Rajesh: (wide-eyed) Dei Arun! You won’t believe what happened this morning.
Arun: (smiling) Let me guess. You had a dream about a black cat eating a lemon and now you’re avoiding yellow clothes?
Rajesh: (dead serious) No da! I was about to leave for my job interview at TVS Motors—shirt tucked, hair oiled, everything perfect—and I sneezed. Twice!
Arun: (mock gasp) Oh no, the horror! Did the universe collapse?
Rajesh: Dei don’t joke! You know what that means. My paati always says if you sneeze before stepping out for something important, it’s a sign from the cosmos to stop. So I sat down, drank water, and waited exactly 7 minutes before leaving.
Arun: (grinning) That’s oddly specific. Why 7 minutes? Why not 5 or 13?
Rajesh: Odd numbers are unlucky, even ones break the curse—basic vastu logic, da.
Arun: (laughing) I’m pretty sure the virus that made you sneeze doesn’t care about vastu. It’s just your nose clearing out dust or reacting to pepper.
Rajesh: (defensive) You scientists always dismiss traditions. But these customs have been around for centuries. They must have some truth.
Arun: Not necessarily. People used to believe that eclipses were caused by snakes swallowing the sun. Doesn’t make it true. Just because an idea is old doesn’t mean it’s right. My amma used to think I’d fail exams if I cut my nails at night.
Rajesh: And?
Arun: I became a gold medallist. While sporting neatly trimmed nails at 9 PM.
Rajesh: (half-laughing) Okay, but still… don’t you think some things are better left unexplained? I mean, when my chitti sneezed before her visa interview, she didn’t pause. Straightaway she left—and got rejected!
Arun: Maybe because she didn’t submit her documents properly?
Rajesh: No da, the embassy guy even looked annoyed. It was the sneeze. Bad vibration set the tone.
Arun: Look, I get it. These beliefs give us a sense of control in a messy world. But they also make us anxious over harmless things. Imagine if ISRO delayed every rocket launch because someone sneezed on the launch pad!
Rajesh: (laughing) True… but if a mission failed, you would wonder, no?
Arun: No, I’d check the fuel mix ratio and telemetry data. Not someone’s sinus.
Rajesh: So you’re saying all these elders were wrong?
Arun: I’m saying they did the best with what they knew. Maybe sneezing was once seen as a sign of illness—and pausing made sense to stop spreading germs. But in modern times, pausing 7 minutes because of a sneeze is like rebooting your phone because the battery’s low.
Rajesh: Hmm… never thought of it like that.
[Their masala dosas arrive, sizzling on banana leaves. Rajesh takes a deep breath, about to take the first bite.]
Rajesh: (pausing suddenly) Dei… I just sneezed again.
Arun: (deadpan) Maybe the dosa is too spicy. Or maybe… the universe wants you to order filter coffee first.
Rajesh: (laughing) Okay okay, I’ll take your advice. But if anything goes wrong today, I’m blaming you and your science!
Arun: Deal. And if things go right, I’m taking the credit—along with your coffee.
[End Scene]
Science Vs Superstition 
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