My Fate Is In My Hands
Indians as a nation believe in stones, statues and trees more than oxygen-breathing people. They have this trust on non-existent powers and charlatans. I dont want to fight the belief system. I do believe that people have a great love for temples and gods, be it the smallest of stone shaped like a Nag under a Banyan tree or a statue trying to consume milk! The people at Aavin can probably sign up Pillayar as a brand ambassador, maybe ;)
This blog is about belief-systems, temples and Gods.
One of the greatest belief-systems plaguing Chennai is Astrologers. A dime a dozen, they are everywhere. Especially in Mylapore!
I have seen Astrologers, Nadi Josiars, Temple priests doubling as sooth sayers and more. Some of them are charlatans and some are true to their professions. I am not saying all of them are dishonest. But some of them are. Take the case of one Mr. Shastry.
Mr. Shastry must be in his 80s, a toothless grin, a self-satisfied stance, and a rudraksha mala to complete the effect. He says whoever comes to him has been rid of his troubles! I thought, hey, shouldn't that be my dialogue, after I am rid of my troubles. (I was forced to go there with my Mom!)
Well. Poor guy. Let him have fun.
So Mr. Astrologer told me that I am a great sinner. I have to go to Rameshwaram, coz only in those great seas, I can dissolve my sins and atone for my PitruDosham! (Was wondering for 2 days, what exactly the word means)
Then the great man said, I have to do a homam at Rameshwaram and pay the pundits around 5K and lighten my purse. Well, I was a bit skeptical about this. I came back home feeling a bit dull about myself and my Bad Karma.
He also said, I can never get married, if I failed to do what he said. Well, I didnt have any great interest in travelling to Rameshwaram just so that the Gods are pleased and I get to see a ritual, which will bind me to some idiot! Not me...
After that visit, my thoughts ran on these lines -
If God were a benevolent being, He would surely forgive me my sins, if I pray to him and say, Hey I am sorry. I think He should not be so hard-hearted that He punishes me for some sin that I never did!
I never told anybody about all this. But it hurt me to think that I was such a sinner! Well, my rational brain kicked in after a comatose stage. Then I realised the futility of my thoughts. I had to stop chastising myself and think positive. I decided not to think about the Astrologer at all.
Once I did this, my heart was a ton lighter and I had a trouble free sleep. But what was the problem? Money. Came to know later that the chap wanted money, and he had been hand-in-glove with guys in Rameshwaram where he was supposed to earn Rs. 3000 as commission!! Whoa!
No doubt the chap was living comfortably in a huge flat at TNagar.
Astrologers, till now have never predicted anything correctly for me. Umm..A Naadi Josiar, in Thiruvanmiyur, said something about my future that is yet to happen.So I can verify those facts, ONLY if they happen. Right.
Well, Gods...hmmm...I do believe in the Creator. But it is sad that we choose to favor Gods who have certain powers and ignore the rest. Maybe the vibration of certain places like Vaidheeswaran Koil in TamilNadu do have a healing effect on people. I have not seen it.So I am mum on this.
Belief systems in Chennai need a huge makeover. People have to realize that blindly believing in Astrologers, Naadi Josiars and Gods, wont take them anywhere. They have to go about their jobs and try to lead a hassle free life. Mainly, they have to STOP poking their diamond-studded noses into other peoples lives. I believe GOD would be very happy to grant them wishes!
This blog is about belief-systems, temples and Gods.
One of the greatest belief-systems plaguing Chennai is Astrologers. A dime a dozen, they are everywhere. Especially in Mylapore!
I have seen Astrologers, Nadi Josiars, Temple priests doubling as sooth sayers and more. Some of them are charlatans and some are true to their professions. I am not saying all of them are dishonest. But some of them are. Take the case of one Mr. Shastry.
Mr. Shastry must be in his 80s, a toothless grin, a self-satisfied stance, and a rudraksha mala to complete the effect. He says whoever comes to him has been rid of his troubles! I thought, hey, shouldn't that be my dialogue, after I am rid of my troubles. (I was forced to go there with my Mom!)
Well. Poor guy. Let him have fun.
So Mr. Astrologer told me that I am a great sinner. I have to go to Rameshwaram, coz only in those great seas, I can dissolve my sins and atone for my PitruDosham! (Was wondering for 2 days, what exactly the word means)
Then the great man said, I have to do a homam at Rameshwaram and pay the pundits around 5K and lighten my purse. Well, I was a bit skeptical about this. I came back home feeling a bit dull about myself and my Bad Karma.
He also said, I can never get married, if I failed to do what he said. Well, I didnt have any great interest in travelling to Rameshwaram just so that the Gods are pleased and I get to see a ritual, which will bind me to some idiot! Not me...
After that visit, my thoughts ran on these lines -
If God were a benevolent being, He would surely forgive me my sins, if I pray to him and say, Hey I am sorry. I think He should not be so hard-hearted that He punishes me for some sin that I never did!
I never told anybody about all this. But it hurt me to think that I was such a sinner! Well, my rational brain kicked in after a comatose stage. Then I realised the futility of my thoughts. I had to stop chastising myself and think positive. I decided not to think about the Astrologer at all.
Once I did this, my heart was a ton lighter and I had a trouble free sleep. But what was the problem? Money. Came to know later that the chap wanted money, and he had been hand-in-glove with guys in Rameshwaram where he was supposed to earn Rs. 3000 as commission!! Whoa!
No doubt the chap was living comfortably in a huge flat at TNagar.
Astrologers, till now have never predicted anything correctly for me. Umm..A Naadi Josiar, in Thiruvanmiyur, said something about my future that is yet to happen.So I can verify those facts, ONLY if they happen. Right.
Well, Gods...hmmm...I do believe in the Creator. But it is sad that we choose to favor Gods who have certain powers and ignore the rest. Maybe the vibration of certain places like Vaidheeswaran Koil in TamilNadu do have a healing effect on people. I have not seen it.So I am mum on this.
Belief systems in Chennai need a huge makeover. People have to realize that blindly believing in Astrologers, Naadi Josiars and Gods, wont take them anywhere. They have to go about their jobs and try to lead a hassle free life. Mainly, they have to STOP poking their diamond-studded noses into other peoples lives. I believe GOD would be very happy to grant them wishes!
Good blog, i must agree with your views on some astrologers. My family tooo met with the same fate when we visited some stupid Nadi josiar, who gave all sorts of stupid parigarams to wash our sins. We just landed up wasting money on yagnas and all those stuff. But, i must say one thing ,due to stupid people like these fake astrologers , the real ones are doubted. Well,anyway let your blog be an example to all those believing in fake astrologers. Happy blogging.:-)
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