Almost every Indian household has this rule: “Don’t step over someone lying down, or they’ll stop growing!” We laugh at it now, but as children, it made us freeze mid-step.
The truth is that height has nothing to do with it. This superstition probably came from practical wisdom. In older times, when most people slept on the floor, stepping over someone was unhygienic and unsafe, you could hurt them or bring dirt onto their bedding. It was also seen as disrespectful, almost like treating a person as an object in your way. To make children remember, parents framed it as a superstition instead of a boring lecture.
Seen this way, the belief isn’t about magical growth, it’s about respect. It reminds us to value people’s space and dignity. Even today, many of us instinctively avoid stepping over someone, not because we fear “bad luck,” but because we know it feels wrong.
