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Journalism of Courage
This family has found its place under the sun,literally. Anil Acharya is a 12th generation shadow reader who predicts fortunes of people from their shadow cast by the sun. His is the only family in the country,which still practises this ancient astrological art.
Acharya measures clients shadows between nine in the morning and noon. The client is asked to stand up straight with arms wide open as he measures the head and torso separately. He says complex calculations are involved in predictions.
He brushes skeptics aside and says the suns energy influences people. A persons shadow can give an insight into just about anything,the right time to get married or have a child,business decisions,health and karma, says Acharya.
Acharya traces his profession to the Aryan tradition of predicting time from length of shadows. During journeys,when shadows got longer,they would start looking for shelter for the night. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur was a patron of shadow reading, says Acharya alluding to the mathematician and astrologer king who had set up the Jantar Mantars in Jaipur,Delhi,Mathura,Ujjain and Varanasi,which tell time from giant sundials.
Shadow reading can be mastered through years of dedication,says Acharya. Children are coached from the age of three. It takes at least 25 years to get a command over it. Acharyas sons Prateek (26) and Chintan (21) are ready to take up his mantle. Chintan studies in a popular South Mumbai college and Prateek is an MBA student at a reputed institute.
Education is important but we do not believe in pursuit of wealth, says Acharya. He says like his predecessors,he will retire to the Himalayas soon.
Prateek,who has kept his family profession a secret from friends in college,says soon after MBA,he will do what generations of his family has been doing. Its in our bloodline after all, he says.
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