“Congratulations! The horoscopes are an excellent match. 32 out of the 36 gunas are in agreement with each other. You should not let this proposal slip out of your hands…” the Pandit rambled along. Apparently the celestial arrangements at the exact moment when Ravish took his first breath and the ones when Shikha was born four years later indicated that theirs was a match made in heaven. The Pandit`s approval was what mattered most to his dad, Ravish knew. He was praying that the kundlis did not match. How else would he be able to dodge this proposal? Shikha was the daughter of a family friend, well-educated, soft-spoken and beautiful. Both the families had known each other since decades. What plausible reason could Ravish come up with for refusing the proposal except that the horoscopes were not in agreement? He wasn’t ready, not yet at least, to walk straight up to his old man and announce that he was in love with his batch-mate, Roshni. Alas, the Pandit`s utterances put paid to his faint hopes. He knew, his argument that the marital lives of Lord Rama and Mata Sita were not something to cheer about even though all 36, let alone 32 of the gunas in their kundlis had matched each-other, would hold no relevance to his father. Ravish had never believed in astrological predictions, but today, his anger at this `science` of foretelling the future based on planetary alignments, was at its peak.
Horoscopes, Palmistry, Face Reading, Tarot cards, Numerology, Vaastu Shaastra… These are topics that have divided people since centuries. There are many who would seek the perfect auspicious mahurat for everything they do in life, be mindful of the exact direction where they place their heads while sleeping, alter the spelling of their names, modify their signatures, wear rings and necklaces with the exact weighted precious stones, fast for long periods and perform lengthy yagnas and pujas to ward off `evil`. Equally, there are those who laugh at the notion that anything else except a man`s own deeds shape his destiny. It’s like a battle between the Believers and the Atheists – neither side willing to give the other an inch.
For every claim that almost all the predictions of the great seer Nostradamus in his work ‘Les Propheties` have come true, there are questions raised at the metaphorical language he has used which could be interpreted in any number of ways. For every success story credited to the change in the direction of the main entrance of one`s home is another one where months of fasting and performing rituals have yielded no favorable results. I have met people who affirm that adding the extra ‘e’ in the way they spell their name has worked wonders for their professional lives. On the other hand, I know those who never seem to shake off the ill effects of Rahu or Mangal in their kundlis despite offering daan and dakshinas to all the Brahmins in the city. I have had past events of my own life laid out before me in vivid detail by a Maharaj I was meeting for the first time. Also, I have seen unscrupulous Pandits taking bribes to make a fake `perfect kundli` for their benevolent yajmaan`s child.
The history of the world tells us that our fore-fathers, since ancient times and across civilizations, looked up at the skies to foretell the future. Anyone who cares to look at the basic principles of astrology, followed by entirely different races and unconnected people separated by geography and time, will find striking similarities between them. The gold standard in Palmistry – `Cheiro`s Guide to the Hand` written in the 1900s finds resonance and anecdotal evidence to support its theories even today. The venerable `Lal Kitab` – the most authoritative work in the field of astro-palmistry – lists out simple `to-do` things or farmaans for leading an astrologically rewarding life which have become second nature to people staying in the subcontinent. This cannot just be a matter of coincidence or a quirk of nature. But to find a truly knowledgeable practitioner of the complex art of predicting the future is more cumbersome than finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. To meet someone who can provide an effective remedy to what hardships are already written in one`s stars, even more so.
In today`s world of computerised horoscopes and televised Samaagams, with gurus and babas of all hues and shades offering instant salvation from worldly problems, this field of human endeavor has become ever murkier. Everything today is being marketed as a business. `My solution to your problem is more effective and affordable than the one offered to you next door` is the common refrain. ‘New’ remedial techniques in the field of Vaastu wherein one can balance energies by placing a particular stone or a vessel filled with water in the appropriate direction to purportedly have the same effect as the earlier approach of demolishing the entire structure and rebuilding it in a specific way breeds more skepticism than confidence. Tarot card readers are in a competition with palmists for clients while many numerologists dismiss other manners of predicting and remedying problems as a farce. The situation is akin to one in which a patient has had to suffer at the hands of so many doctors with fake degrees and certificates that even though he trusts medicine as a science, he has lost faith in its practitioners.
It is up to the `experts` of these ancient wellsprings of knowledge then, to redeem themselves, and in doing so, restore the faith of the general populace in the age-old ‘predictive sciences`. Evidently, today`s generation is open to change, provided any assertion that challenges the status quo is based on hard facts and incontrovertible proof.
Until such a time, we would do well to follow Allama Iqbal`s words where he says,
“Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle
Khuda bande se khud poochhe bata teri raza kya hai”
(Become so capable that before writing your destiny, God himself is forced to ask you, “What is your wish?”)
Tarkash 