Ace astrologers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are busy as election to the highest office in the country is round the corner. Interestingly, even persons who pontificate scientific temperament and exhort people not to be carried away by the prophecies or predictions by astrologers are queuing up before the latter to know what the stars foretell about the possibilities of them making it to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
“A gentleman from Tamil Nadu calls me up on alternate nights to find out the chances of him being fielded as a candidate and the prospectus of him winning the election. Though I told him not to be carried away by what the political leaders tell, he is all set to taste defeat in the eventuality of a contest,” a leading astrologer in Kerala told The Pioneer. He insisted that the name of the client should be kept as a secret.
The astrologer was reluctant to talk about the person who would be sworn in as the next president. “The names of the candidates are yet to be announced. Once the name is announced, we have to study details like the date, time and place of birth of the candidate. Then only we can say with certainty whether the person would make it in the race,” said the astrologer.
A Guruvayur based astrologer said that though politicians and intellectuals criticize the science of astrology, they are particular to consult the astrologer before any major decisions are taken. “They launch satellites and test launch vehicles after learning the position of planets and they give us their horoscopes. I do not mind them speaking about scientific temperament because astrology itself is a branch of science,” said the Guruvayur based astrologer.
Sanskrit scholar and Harijan leader Acharya M K Kunhol had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to constitute a panel of astrologers to understand the reasons behind the series of agitations unleashed by various forces in the country. “There were instances of political leadership in the country seeking divine intervention to know in advance what the stars foretell about the country. N Sankaran Nair, former chief of Research and Analysis Wing, has written in his memoirs about how the services of astrologers were utilized by the country to know the future of the then President Nkrumah of Ghana. After reading the birth chart of Nkrumah, Indian astrologers were unanimous in their opinion that Nkrumah would be deposed and die as an exile in foreign land,” the Acharya told The Pioneer. Within months of this forecast Nkrumah was deposed as president in a coup and he ran away to Guinea fromwhere he was taken to Rumania where he lasted.
He said many heads of States regularly consult Indian astrologers and we should consider it as a recognition for the Indian system of knowledge and tradition.