Keep faith, work hard and shape your stars
The feng shui chimes sway in the breeze with genuflection to the deity in my friend’s home. She checks out the spin of the wheel of fortune for the day. A man in a yellow silk dhoti, sporting the rudraksh mala is on TV making the predictions, while his contact details are displayed prominently on the screen. Ever since some of his predictions turned out to be true, my friend has become an ardent follower. She hopes to meet him and pay obeisance in person. Though we tried to convince her not to take the predictions coming true too seriously for it may be a chance happening, she cajoled us to accompanying her to meet Panditji.
After traversing through a maze of roads, we reached our destination where we bumped into a younger version of Panditji. On enquiring about him, his lookalike told us that we may asking to meet his father but he had died two years ago. It’s then that we realised that the TV channel was broadcasting old recordings of the daily forecast! My friend stood stupefied, her faith shaken and trust blighted.
We pacified her by telling her that astrology is an interesting study of human psychology but not to be followed blindly. I made her read an anecdote from Tiger of the Snows, the autobiography of Tenzing Norgay with James Ramsey Ullman, 1955. Before the Everest expedition, Tenzing and New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary went to meet the head priest of Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu for astrological consultation. The head priest read their palms, did some calculations and informed them that they won’t be able to surmount the Everest. He further predicted that one of them would die during the arduous expedition. Undeterred, the duo just smiled and went ahead. They became the first men to stand atop the world’s highest mountain on May 29, 1953.
Such instances bring to my mind the words of English philosopher Francis Bacon: “Dreams and predictions of astrology ought to serve but for winter talk by the fireside.”
We are all curious to know what the future holds. As adolescents, we avidly read Linda Goodman’s astrology books, Sun Signs and Love Signs. We visit astrologers outside campus gates with caged parrots fluttering their wings and picking the card that tells our future. Our inquisitive minds easily get influenced by what the astrologer deduces, looking at the cards.
Most of the cards recount the usual trials and tribulations, casual agonies and anxieties faced by youngsters; love life not working out, exam and career issues. I still google my zodiac sign’s prediction but never take it to heart. There’s no harm flirting with the zodiac provided we don’t mistake it for an oracle or gospel truth.
Had my friend not visited the astrologer, her perception towards astrology wouldn’t have changed. Had Tenzing and Hillary listened to the predictions of the astrologer, they wouldn’t have left their footprints on the sands of time.
Destiny doesn’t lie in our stars but in our diligence and dedication, passion and perseverance, in other words, in ourselves, we are underlings. A wise man shall overrule his stars and have a greater influence upon his own content than all the constellations and planets of the firmament. Believing blindly in astrology is fatalism and negating the power of diligence. Work hard and shape your own stars!
DESTINY DOESN’T LIE IN OUR STARS BUT IN OUR DILIGENCE AND DEDICATION, PASSION AND PERSEVERANCE