Quirky tales

Says Ranjit Das,a Mechanical Engineer (name changed) who compulsively has been writing on his limbs since he was a kid,“I don’t know why I have never been able to leave this habit. I have to write everyday and do it unknowingly.” While these habits do sound bizarre,it can all be linked to some childhood experience,believes Deepak,who has a set of quirky tales himself. “I can’t stop counting each second when I am nervous. I start counting from one to sixty and then go on doing it again and again,I guess it’s got to do with my childhood; whenever I was scared my mother told me to count,may be just to take my mind off it but it still persists today,” says Deepak.

“ I have this really weird habit which crops up at different times randomly,I have a habit of speaking a sentence in English and then repeating it in Hindi all over again. Whenever I do that a little more than normal,people ask me why I need to repeat. And I really don’t have an answer to that,” shares Avijit. Bizarre habits range from stingy wardrobe management rules to obsessive clothing rituals or repeated odd behaviour. Riddhi Mishra keeps checking her bag for all-important stuff every time she’s out for work. “I get so paranoid that I must have left something or something must have fallen off that I keep checking every five minutes. It’s disturbing for people who are with me and for me too,” she reveals.

Rini Jadhav,however,has a different tale to tell. “I can’t apply just one shade of nail colour. So,all my fingers have different colours and of course it’s quite noticeable. Lot of people term it wacky and my nails are always the centre of attraction. Anyway,I love it!” Rini’s habit may seem to be out of ordinary,but it sure is fast becoming a fashion statement! Metamorphosis of such crazy quirks into fashion statements or cool lingos isn’t uncommon.

So why do people get these habits and why are they so caught up with it and do they really have some significance? Dr Ulhas Luktuke,a psychologist,sheds some light on such bizarre behaviour. “Every habit can be linked to a state of mind. It can either be an obsessive-compulsive disorder or paranoia or it could be a phobia. It all depends on the situation and the growing up years of that individual. Someone who is suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD),generally can’t get rid of a thought,and the more he tries,the more obsessed he gets with it. A phobia,on the other hand,is an unreasonable fear,but it is so strong that the person needs to act in a defensive manner,” says he. “But most of the time,these weird behaviour patterns are not harmful and our society has a large tolerance level towards them. Only if it makes an individual really incapable of handling himself,should he seek clinical help,otherwise we all are weird in our own ways,” adds Dr Luktuke.