Astrologer defies death, kills his business instead.

Ok! So I had read this story about an astrologer in India predicting his own death, in the Reuters' "Oddly Enough" section. Today I read in the same section that the said astrologer actually did not die. This astrologer, Kunjilal Malviya, is apparently very good at his work. Testifying to the accuracy of his predictions, his son was quoted saying:

"My father had predicted the death of my grandfather 15 years ago and it came true exactly like he calculated."

Police were posted to prevent this man from killing himself. Hundreds of people had gathered to to see if his prediction would come true. Now, who are these sick idiots who flock to see if a man really dies or not? Although some of them were there to pray for his life, others probably gathered to bolster their belief in astrology. Kunjilal's family later said that he defied death because of the prayers offered by people.

While the astrologer managed to evade death he definitely killed his own business once and for all, when his prediction did not come true. Although I am happy for the man and his family, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the outcome. Don't get me wrong... I am not wishing ill for the man in any way, but if indeed he had died it would have been the first time I actually witnessed an astrologer's prediction coming true. So far it has always been, "yabbut... my friend's friend did actually fracture his leg as predicted by the jyotishi."

Astrology has a very strong hold on people in India. Having ranted about astrology before on this blog, I will simply say this, "I hate astrology". I don't mind people who have "faith" in astrology or other assorted pieces doo-doo. A man can have "faith" in any damn thing he wants and believe me there's all kinds of crap going around the world. There are people who believe humans were planted on earth by aliens and all the stories about Gods and demons in various mythologies are actually about the alien overlords. There is this Time Cube guy, Gene Ray, who believes that there are 4 simultaneous days in one single earth rotation. He has even offered $10000 to anyone who disproves him! These things are simply impossible to prove or disprove. So the only basis to believe in them can be faith.

What irks me about people who believe in astrology is that they are always trying to prove how it is a real science. IT IS NOT A SCIENCE. If only it was so easy to settle the debate about this by simply blogging it. Inspite of the actions of organizations like the Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition) [ANS] in India, this scourge is not going to go away any soon.

BTW, Amit Varma of India Uncut has a post on the same subject. Also check out his other posts on astrology that he has linked from his post today.

Oh! and the article says at the end:

But in the past, crowds have beaten up astrologers when their predicted demise failed to occur.

Apparently these people believed in astrology so passionately, that they took it upon themselves to bring the predictions into reality. Mera Bharat Mahan!

Technorati Tags: Astrology, Non-science, Pseudo-science, Time cube, Erik von Daniken, Superstition

Oracles of the cyberspace...

In ancient Greece the Oracles foretold the future. Nowadays anyone can do that... your future is just a few clicks away.

A friend forwarded me an email today which had "Just for fun" as its subject. The contents of the email can be found by clicking on this link and try to look for a long list of animals (like dog, moneky etc. )

It tells you what "animal" you are depending on your birth date. It turns out that I am indeed a DOG (As I have believed for a long time). I need to get my wardrobe all trendy (as per the predictions) otherwise I will get depressed ...everything else looks fine. BTW all the other people (or animals) on the list are nice too. No snakes or lizards in this list (nothing against snakes; they are actually pretty decent animals). Which goes well I guess....with the belief that every person in this world is "good" at the core....

On this site you will get a perpetual supply of emails like these to forward. IT also has a convenient link to do so without having to copy and paste the useless stuff into your email window.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could find everything about ourselves or our life...or our future by looking at the stars, or the palm of our hand (or foot in some cases) or the lines on our forehead...or cards we draw from a tarot deck....or may be the wrinkles on our face might have something to do with our future (other than being the cue to check how that retirement account is doing)

B*** S***....

Wouldn't in be great if we could change to someone else....live a fairytale...in a fantasy land...HOGWASH....

If life and future was fully predictable (as Pascal thought it would be if he knew the position and velocity of each and every molecule in the world and had a super-duper computer)....I wouldn't want to be alive. If everything that is going to happen was known...life would be a sorry tale of expected events. It would be like watching a rerun of a bad movie.

If I don't want to be myself or am not satisfied with myself....I will probably not be satisfied being someone else too. Nature (or GOD or whoever you believe in) has given us the power for improvement....its called "will power" and "imagination". If you can "imagine" to be better and have the "will" to be better....you can work and actually "BE" a better person.

PaaNinI (The great SaMskrita VyAkaraNkAra..or Grammarian) was told by a fortune teller that he would never be a learned person because he doesnt have the right lines on the palm of his hand. He asked the "jyotiShI" (fortune teller) where the line would be....and then etched that line on his palm with a knife....and asked the jyotiShI, "Will I become a 'learned person' now?". PaaNinI ALSO made a great and invaluable contribution to Sanskrit grammar (there is a great tale about his death too...but that for later).

Everyone can write his/her own future on the palm of his/her hand....THEMSELVES

Such emails (EVEN if they are FOR FUN) tend to propagate the idea that future can be gauged by the movement of stars. It is a waste of the tremendous power of the internet. The internet was supposed to increase the direct exchange of "valuable" ideas between people. It has done that to some extent. But I feel that most of the times we exchange "CRAP" like these emails about "know your personality or horoscope".

There are other emails like these... where you have to send "Ganesh Vandana" (an ode to lord Ganesh)... to TEN OTHER PEOPLE so that you will get "everything you wish for"....or the emails where you have to send some cutesie poetry about "how you care for your friends" by forwarding that email to "your true friends". One such email promised my "everything I wish for" if I forwarded it to ten people and if I didn't "the opposite" will happen. What if I didn't forward it and wished "not to get anything"....will I get "Everything" (the opposite of nothing)??

Its like Thoreau said (and I am not quoting literally from Walden...but the gist is the same anyway).... "We may build a telegraph line between Maine and Texas....but what if Maine has nothing of significance to communicate with Texas?". (In his times telegraph was hi-tech communication). Turns out that Maine might have some important things to communicate with Texas (like choice of presidential candidate)....but the core lesson still applies....

People may be connected directly by the internet....but people may not necessarily have anything of significance to communicate with each other...and hence we see this traffic of "horoscope emails" and "ganesh vandana emails" and "cutsie letter to true friend" emails. I guess one reason is that it doesn't cost much money (and time) to send this stuff. It's just another kind of SPAM really....only it doesnt offer me a free iPOD or a flatscreen TV.

A character in a novel "Asami Asami" by P. L. Deshpande (a genius Marathi novelist, musician, actor....and much much more) says..."our forefathers spent their lives predicting everone else's future (as fortune tellers or astrologers) instead of worrying about improving their own future]".

Every Indian newspaper (both in print and online) has a horoscope section. Every new year there is a big section in all the magazines by some "imminent astrologer" about "the year ahead". No wedding (or any other events) happen without consulting the astrologer. In general there is a great tendency to follow any "guru" who promises quick fix englightment. Instant "nirvana" (and not the kind where you smoke weed) is more popular than fast food in India.

People have got to stop trying to figure out what is going to happen in their future and start spending more time on meaningful work (which might actually improve the odds of a better future). Astrologers, fortunetellers, new age gurus and (by a little stretch of logic) religious fanatics thrive and get a following because people are inherently afraid of the future and afraid of change. The quick fix solutions that these people provide (do this pooja, forward an email, follow the scripture) provide an escape... a simple and easy solution which is totally useless and ineffective.

The "unpredictability" or life is a great source of fear and mystery....but it is also the most vital ingredient. Without it life wouldn't be life. It is something that everyone must learn to live with...in fact not just live with...but celebrate.

"Cheers !"

Technorati Tags: Junk email, Astrology, Superstition, Spam,