SIGNS AND SCIENCE

Recently I overheard a conversation between two of my colleagues, both senior managers in my office.

They were discussing submission of a bid in response to a Government tender.  They were not discussing the price or the terms, but the auspicious time to submit it.  They were ensuring that it was not Rahukalam.  (Rahukalam is considered an inauspicious time during the day and changes daily in a standard manner.  For example, on Mondays, it is between 7.30 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. and on Tuesdays, 3.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.)  While this is followed religiously by most Tamil speaking Hindus, it is unknown in the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh.  While Amavasya  (The new moon day) is considered auspicious in Tamil Nadu, in  Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, where a lunar calendar is followed, it is considered inauspicious. 

Right from my childhood, I have found Panchangam (traditional Indian time keeping method consisting of Tithi, Vaaram, Nakshatram, Yogam and Karanam), Raasi (Zodiac signs) and Jaatakam (horoscope) and astrological predictions, very vague, confusing and unscientific.  Every time I expressed my doubts about this system, my mother would say “are they (the authors of Panchangam) not forecasting the exact date of eclipses?”   When I questioned my colleague as to why he was giving importance to something like Rahukalam, his immediate reply was, “do you agree that tides are caused by the gravitational pull of moon?  Then you should also agree that the planets around us have more powers that are not visible to our naked eye but was known to our ancestors and there is absolutely nothing wrong in following tradition.”  This is the manner in which believers generally silence rationalists.

I don’t know why and when exactly I started doubting or questioning this system.  My parents have always been referring to the traditional calendar, before they commenced something significant. I first heard the term “jaatakam” (horoscope) when my parents started looking for a bride for my eldest brother.  My parents were very particular that they would proceed with the alliance, only if the horoscopes of my brother and the prospective bride tallied as a well-wisher had advised my father to adhere to this.   It was a new concept in our circle.  Till then, only the Star conformity was verified.  Some stars like Moola, Aslesha, Rohini, Jeshta, Visakha and Chitra needed special matching, as there were certain restrictions on these.  When my parents started matching horoscopes, the choice of brides narrowed down.  That was when I and my siblings started questioning the rationale and also tried to understand the science of signs.

Are all these not just concepts? I mean including the time and the calendar.  Is it not a fact that once upon a time there were just 10 months in the Gregorian calendar that most in the world follow now?

My second brother Chinna, as we address him, once accompanied my father to an astrologer and requested him to teach him astrology.  He had bombarded the poor astrologer with several questions.  Through our brother, we learnt that, there are strict guidelines for developing a horoscope based on a person’s time and place of birth because of which the “chakram” or the “kundali” prepared by two different astrologers would be consistent.  It is a kind of algorithm. But how the astrologers correlate past happenings and predict future based on the horoscope is absolutely unscientific.  No two astrologers say the same.  When my brother cornered the astrologer, he surrendered and advised my brother not to bother much about astrology and carry on with his studies.

An artwork designer often visited the organization I was working for, for designing the publicity material.  He also happened to be an astrologer.  A colleague, who also happens to be my friend, consulted him on many issues.  He was more a counselor than an astrologer.  He patiently listened to the woes of my colleague and relieved him of a few tensions.  But my observation was, the designer was a person with a negative attitude and it reflected in everything he said.  Though the persons consulting him were superficially relieved, he also instilled a lot of fear in them and advised them many ways and means of redemption, which was most of the times cumbersome.  When a colleague was a full term pregnant and her Gynecologist advised her to get admitted for a cesarean, she consulted this astrologer in reference and he immediately said that the following fortnight was a very bad period and advised the pregnant lady to postpone delivery and frightened her by mentioning that if the baby was born during that period, the chances of survival was “nil”. How ridiculous! How on earth can someone postpone delivery of a baby by fifteen days? This lady gave birth to a healthy baby who is now a beautiful, young lady.  Similarly, another colleague, whose marriage was getting delayed, gave her horoscope to this designer for verification and he predicted that she would remain single and if at all she gets married, she would be divorced or widowed immediately after the wedding.  Soon after this horrible prediction, she got married to a very handsome, rich and a friendly guy and they are a very lovely couple blessed with prosperity and cute children.  Though, I cautioned many of my colleagues not to consult him citing my observations about his predictions, many of my colleagues consulted him and my dear friend continues to take his dictums and act accordingly even now. That is of course his prerogative.

There are many types of soothsayers in South India.  In Andhra, there are Koya tribes and Sodhi women, who are very well known to cheat vulnerable clients.  Kerala too has its set of astrologers and in Tamil Nadu, in addition to the traditional astrologers, there are a set of astrologers called Naadi Josiers. Naadi Astrology is based on the belief that the past, present and the future lives of all humans were foreseen by Hindu sages in ancient time and documented on palm leaves using an ancient script, which a layman cannot read. These Naadi Josiers mostly located in the temple towns of Chidambaram and Kanchipuram claim to be descendents of some sage or the other who have inherited many “Naadis” or records of people. My brother accompanied a friend in distress to a Naadi Josier and to know their modus operandi requested them to obtain his record from their treasure.  Generally, on the first day of the meeting, a client is asked to write down his/her full name and affix his/her finger print on a white paper and leave it with the astrologer.  During the next sitting, the Naadi Josier shortlists some palm leaves supposedly matching with the client’s finger prints and name. They start referring to the palm leaves and predict certain things to zero on the correct document.  The client is expected to say just a “yes” or “no” and based on the replies, they identify the correct leaf and start reading what is written on the leaf without a pause.  The clients are allowed to audio-record the reading session.

My brother, when given a sheet of paper, wrote his name as “P.Satyanarayana”.  In South India, the names are prefixed by one or few alphabets called “initials”.  While in Tamil Nadu, a person takes the first alphabet of one’s father’s name as an initial, the Canarese prefix the first alphabet of their native village/town, the Keralites assume the first alphabet of the maternal family name and the Andhrites take the first alphabet of the family name, which is called “inti peru” as the initial. Not aware of this system, the Naadi Josier with his limited intelligence started predicting my father’s name.  His first question was, “Is your father named after a God?” and when my brother replied “yes”, he started naming every God.  Every third name started with the alphabet “P” as that is our initial.   

  

The conversation went on like this.

Is your father’s name Panchapakesan? “No”

Is it Krishnan? “No”

Is it Gangadharan “No”

Is it Peethambaram? “No”

Is it Palani? “No”

Is it the name of Lord Siva? “No”

Is it the name of Lord Muruga? “No”

Is it the name of Vishnu? “Yes”

Is it “Parthasarathy? “No”

Is it Mukundan? “No”

Is it Venkata Raghavan? “No”

Is it “Padmanabhan? “No

Having received “No” as an answer for several of the questions, the Josier told my brother that none of the leaves with him match with my brother’s and advised him to return after a week.  

My brother was then working on a PhD programme in Forensic Science.  With his serious look and haircut, he resembled a Police Officer.  A layman, when asked to affix a fingerprint, applies ink to the thumb and presses on the paper straight.  Whereas, the Police take a 180 degree thumb impression and the Naadi Josier, watching my brother affix his fingerprint in a semi-circular manner, assumed my brother to be either a Police or a criminal. When my brother went for the next session, the astrologer indulged him in a casual talk and asked him if he works for the Police.  When he replied, he asked if he is a criminal.  When the reply was “No”, he asked “Are you a lawyer?” When my brother’s reply did not satisfy him, he wanted to know the motive behind visiting him.  Most of the people visit astrologers during distress and the astrologer tried to guess my brother’s trouble.  He asked if it was a “love problem” as my brother was in his mid-twenties then.  When the reply was ”No”, he named every problem on earth and when my brother replied that he just was curious to know who he was in his previous birth and who he would be in his next birth, the astrologer politely told my brother that none of the documents available with him matched with my brother and advised my brother to visit some other astrologer. Actors, Politicians, industrialists and people from all walks of life across India visit these Naadi Josiers with great optimism.

Whatever the form of astrology, the astrologers are all extroverts, a little intelligent, a little well-informed, who have the gift of the gab and also who can do a little mind-reading. They know human psychology well and avoid those who doubt them.

There are more believers than non-believers and with whom having an argument is not an easy task, as faith is stronger than logic.

Every person is entitled to his/her sentiments and idiosyncrasies.  

Photo courtesy: The Internet