Date Mantra: The magic of three eights in a row

MAGICAL DATE: Check out if this will be an August date for you, too.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Maharaj or Dada, Ganguly's legacy lives on

Featured Slideshows

New Delhi What’s in numbers? Well, put that one to the believers of the power of three eights in a row.

It is 8.8.08 today... the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the century.

Want more magic? Add the day of the month, the month and the year. 08+08+2008 also adds up to 8.

Interestingly, the peculiar sequence of dates like 080808 will only come another four times in this century.

And then again after almost a century on 1st January 2101 which will read as 010101.

And across the world, different cultures have their own theories about the day.

In India, the number 8 by itself is considered to be an omen, but the combination of three 8's together is considered auspicious.

But in Russia and China people consider it a good day to begin a new venture.

Couples rush to the altar to tie the knot. Big and important events are planned to fall on this kind of a combination of dates.

The faith could also partly stem from the fact that eight is said aloud in Cantonese in such a way, that it sounds like the Cantonese word for ‘prosper’. So it is like ordering a tripled prosperity, this day.

It's no surprise then, that the Chinese chose this day to inaugurate the Olympics.

So if you do not sign in to the magic of 8-8-8, simply come home at eight to watch the biggest spectacle unfold on television…the Beijing Olympic opening extravaganza.