Hindustan Times
What the stars foretell?
I am not an astrologer but have great interest in the subject even since I was a student. I have seen predictions of several astrologers coming true, as I have also seen many of them making totally wrong forecasts. In these elections, there were many of them on the electronic media who said with so much conviction that LK Advani was bound to be the next PM.
One of them, who is among the top astrologers of Mumbai even went as far as saying that if Advani did not become the PM and Mayawati his deputy, he would consign his Lal Qitab in the Ganges and give up making predictions.
We all know what has happened to such claims but I have yet to find out whether this astrologer has forsaken astrology as foretold by him. But there were some like, Bharat Upmanyu, Pandit Akhilesh Sharma and Reeta Shankar Seth who were able to predict the outcome very accurately. How they did it is a secret they only would know. But the fact is that everyone had the data before them, but it is these three and maybe some others like them elsewhere who got the correct interpretation. But as I said that astrology can be a fascinating subject and can arouse anyone’s interest including non-believers.
I remember when I was a kid; one of my relatives had gone to the Bhrigu sanstha at Hoshiarpur to find his Patri. He was successful and from what I can re-collect everything mentioned in the document he got from there had accurate information about developments in his life. He died two years ago in the US (in the year predicted by Saint Bhrigu). Till that time he would always marvel on how Bhrigu had been able to predict his destiny hundreds of years ago.
What has made me write this blog on astrology and astrologers is a phone call I received from my astrologer friend, Bharat Upmanyu on May 20th. He said that the new ministers should not take oath on May 22nd as it was an inauspicious day. They should choose some other date and consult an astrologer for the right time. I expressed my helplessness in convincing anyone on postponing the ceremony and as scheduled, the swearing-in of the Prime Minister and 19 ministers took place on May 22.
I was curious to know why Bharat had expressed his doubts over the date and time of swearing. I called him up. He said that on May 22 it was Ketu nakshatra and the time of oath of Prime Minister was 6.33.32 pm. The lagna at that point was zero degree. In astrological terms, it does not augur well for the new government and it could be in some kind of trouble in the next few months especially around the time, the Saturn transits into Virgo on September 9.
Another astrologer friend who said that the new government must be careful shared this view. He said that there could be a sting operation or some petty person could create an unforeseen problem for the government. I have always taken Bharat seriously since he was among the few who had predicted Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. He had told me the exact date when HD Deva Gowda would be forced to quit. Bharat has always been of the view that people should respect astrology as it was a way to better life and could guide you through your bad times. He feels that astrologers may go wrong but astrology is a perfect science and it can never go wrong. Now whether this apprehension about swearing in on May 22nd is going to turn out to be true only time will tell.
But coming back to some incredible predictions coming true, I remember reading a book by Ajanta Jain and Indoomati Pandit who at one stage used to write the predictions column in the Illustrated Weekly of India. The book was written in Marathi in 1953 and a Pune based publisher published its English translation. The book was India’s Nostradamus and contained predictions from the mid fifties till 2000. I was surprised to read that the two astrologers had predicted the death of a top national leader in 1964 (Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru died on May 27, 1964). It talked about India’s victory over its neighbour in 1971. It had assassination of a top leader in 1984 (Indira Gandhi was killed on October 31, 1984) and it talked about trouble in two border states — Punjab and Kashmir in the late eighties. Most unbelievable was that the astrologers had predicted in 1953, the break up of the Soviet Union in the early nineties. They talked about rise of fundamental forces “who will try to turn the clock back but their efforts will eventually not succeed’’ (this applied to the rise and fall of BJP). There were many other eye openers but I do not remember all of them and my recollection is trough my memory.
I had heard about the two astrologers from Thakur Ram Lal, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. I was a student at that time and while having tea at the Davicos in Simla, Mr Ram Lal, then in the opposition said that he would be the CM once again. I asked him why did he believe so. He said Indoomati Pandit had told him that. Both Indoomati and Ajanta had predicted in 1967 that he would be the CM after YS Parmar. And he did rise to occupy that position. Thakur ram Lal said, “They have told me that I will be the CM, a second time”. And he actually did become the chief minister when the Congress returned to power in 1980.
This takes me to CB Sathpathy, an IPS officer of the 1972 batch (UP cadre) who I met while he was serving in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security at the Indian Oil Bhawan on Janpath. He became a good friend and we would often talk to each other on the phone. I was working for the Hindu and I remember that it was sometimes in August 1990 or 91 when Mikhail Gorbachev was ousted in a coup. The agency ticker was next to my cabin in the Hindu and while I was speaking to him, there was a flash stating that Gorbachev had been ousted. I read out the flash to him. Before I could utter a word, he told me that emergency has been declared for six months.
This actually was the line that followed two minutes later on the ticker. But after four or five minutes, he said that Gorbachev will be restored to his position in the next two or three days when one of the five planets which is in Leo moves out. And it actually happened. Gorbachev was released and his captors were arrested in a drunken state subsequently. Mr Satpathy later went on to build Shridi Baba temples but he was an accomplished astrologer. Once I called him up to invite him for a special get together. I had only said hello when he told me the venue he was to be at that evening. On another occasion when I was about to leave his house, he told me that there would be two men walking in the service lane. Tell them that I am waiting for them. The two men were totally astounded when I told them that Mr Sathpathy was waiting for them.
There are many stories, which are from first hand experience that one can narrate. But maybe someday when I again write on astrology or the occult in my blog, I will talk about them.
