Cosmic Bluff

“We thought,why not get a variety of faith healers together for our shoppers?” says Harpreet Suri,the PRO of the mall. Why not,indeed. A study in the UK some years ago suggested between 50 to 60 per cent of newspaper readers religiously read their horoscopes. I read my own in three different papers every day. No matter how far we progress in science and technology,ideas that positions of constellations and date of birth can play a significant role in determining your future is vague stuff that people continue to believe. Reading horoscopes is still harmless time pass that doesn’t cost anything. But I’m constantly amazed at how some of the smartest people I know,attach so much importance to some pundit’s half baked prediction that will only become relevant two decades later.

According to astrology,even the most random,insignificant event happens for a reason. We humans are not separate but part of a chain,in rhythmic harmony with the universe. How this explanation translates into someone being able to predict your future,I’m not quite sure. But anyone who’s been to an astrologer knows they have perfected the art of talking in circles and telling you non specific,irrelevant things about yourself. They give you a vague but convincing opinion after consulting undecipherable diagrams,appear to speak knowledgeably about quadrants and ascension charts,mumbo jumbo the rest of us know nothing about,so are more likely to believe. No astrologer has been known to commit to statements like “You will get married on such and such day,in such and such year.” Yet, a magnetic force draws some of us to them,more when the future is looking especially bleak. Think about an encounter with an astrologer: he holds your hand,looks you in the eye,and tells you flattering things about yourself,or at the very least,that everything’s going to be just fine. Even if the mysterious forces in the universe are not conspiring to sort out your life,his reassuring words do.

Astrology is bigger than ever. There are horoscope and tarot shows on news channels. The spiritual channels have shows that predict your future. Even Simi Garewal’s show India’s Most Desirable has a tarot card reader. Astrology Fairs also,it turns out,are not all that uncommon. The annual trade fair in Pragati Maidan last year had a special pavilion called Mystic World devoted to spirituality and other alternative therapies that raked in huge profits. Everyone needs help in figuring out life’s up and downs and it can be a most amusing crutch,provided one doesn’t take it too seriously.

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