Nazar: the evil eye, and what people do about it
The belief that admiration — even loving admiration — can cause harm. Praise a baby too warmly and someone will touch wood, or make a small gesture to deflect it.
The signs and the remedies
- A black kajal dot on a baby's cheek or behind the ear — deliberately spoiling perfection so it attracts less attention.
- Lemon and seven chillies hung at a shop door or in a car, replaced when they dry.
- The blue eye charm — borrowed from Turkey and the Middle East, now everywhere in South Asia.
- Drishti / nazar utarna — a grandmother circles salt, chillies or camphor around a person's head and burns or discards it. If the chillies burn without a pungent smell, the nazar is said to have been strong.
- A black thread tied on wrist or ankle, especially on children.
The social logic
Underneath it is a fairly clear-eyed understanding of envy. Communities that lived closely together evolved a custom of not displaying good fortune too openly — which is why praise is often softened ("touch wood", "God's grace") and why some families are reluctant to announce good news early.
If you're praising someone's baby, house or achievement in a family that observes this, add "mashallah" or "touch wood" or "God bless" — it costs nothing and it's exactly what everyone else does. Effusive unqualified praise can make older relatives visibly uneasy.
How seriously it's taken varies from complete conviction to an affectionate habit nobody examines. Both live comfortably in the same family.
Last updated: 2026-08-11
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