It was between June and October 2000 that Vinay Aditya, Associate Editor to the Vedic Astrology Digest, happened to participate in the Expo 2000 at Hannover in Germany. He had several interesting experiences during his rather prolonged stay there even as we in India missed him. While his primary participation was to promote the Vedic astrology, it turned out, rather interestingly as well as unexpectedly, that he found palmistry as of greater help there. He seems to have learnt a lot from his German experience. Here he recounts some of his interesting encounters that might prove enlightening to our readers.

We were selected by India Trade Promotion Organisation, New Delhi, to participate in the Expo 2000 at Hannover, Germany. We were to promote and give a taste of Indian Astrology to the visitors of this five-month long international exhibition whose theme was ‘Human Being, Nature and Technology’. We were given a small stall to conduct our activities as a part of India Pavillion. There were 20 odd other ‘shops’ selling Indian handicrafts, jewellery, textiles and nick-nacks, quite like Delhi Haat.

We went there armed with the most sophisticated computer programmes of astrology with the notion that there would be a lot of interest in astrology amongst the Europeans and specially the Germans. We put up small posters to indicate that we were offering computerised Astrological reports, Prashna, Matching of Horoscopes, Muhurta, Varshaphala, etc. We tried to do this in as short yet as explanatory a manner as would drive home the idea. But it failed to create a longing in the hearts of the visitors to make use of these services. Most of these were so foreign to them that they did not appreciate the very idea behind them. They failed to understand how the methodology of Prashna could work or how some body other than the couple themselves could vouch for the compatibility in marriage. Our concepts of ‘gunas’ (which we called the Compatibility Index) or ‘Muhurta’ (which we called finding the most auspicious time to start a new venture) had few takers. In an exhibition it is possible to cater to a de-mand that has caught the fancy of the visitors but it is a quite a task to create demand where none exists.

Within a day we realized that we would not survive here on the staple diet of astrology alone. We have to invent something new to sell, and that too pretty fast, and it has to be in the line of astrology, something for which at least a little demand already exists. And we stumbled upon Palmistry. My colleague had been doing it ever since he was in the womb of his mother who herself has been an exceptionally gifted palmist. And I had stopped doing it ever since I found a wife through Palmistry. When I was a bachelor, I met a Chhaya Shastri in Bombay. Chhaya Shastri is apractitioner of a variation of ‘Prashna’ or Horary astrology who constructs the Prashna chart by measuring the shadow of the querist. He probably uses it to fix the lagna of the Prashna chart. He had told me that my wife would have a cross on her mount of Jupiter (which indicates happy married life). So, when I was looking for a bride, I would make sure to look at the palm of every prospective girl. The moment I found a girl matching the description given by the Chhaya Shastri I gave the much awaited nod to my family. As if the purpose of learning palmistry had been fulfilled, I practically stopped seeing the palms of people except when I would be recruiting fresh talent in my company. It was beyond my wildest imagination at that time that a day would come when I would have to resort to my favourite pastime (nay, a passionate and absorbing hobby of holding delicate hands of nubile young girls) for economic survival. As it turned out later, I saw a couple of thousand hands in five months, as against a fraction of this in the previous 33 years. What you learn in your youth, I realised, comes back to you spontaneously flying back on the wings of time. After the whole experience I took a vow never to do astrology alone; I must combine it with a good look at the palm too.

Insufficient interest in Astrology

While trying to find reasons behind lack of interest in astrology amongst the masses in Germany (and probably in the whole of Europe) several reasons surfaced.

• Performance of Wester Astrologers: The first and the foremost seemed to be a dismal performance of the western astrologers as a class (individual exceptions notwithstanding). The common man gets the taste of astrology through its practitioners. If his expectations are not fulfilled he loses interest in astrology. We found that an astrologer is more a target of ridicule there than respect. Our Indian experience had made us 'assume' that we would be accorded respect automatically because we were providing astrological services. That our assumption was false came to us as a painful revelation. Their argument was seemingly impenetrable that ‘If you can’t change the future what is the use of knowing the future; and if you can change the future then what is the use of taking the prediction’. Either way the astrological activity is good-for-nothing. Our counter arguments convinced but a few. The ones who had preconceived notions were harder nuts to crack, but crack we did.

• Attitude of the Church: For many centuries the church had got the state to ban the practice of astrology and palmistry. The church perceived that its authority would be undermined due to the growing influence of astrologers and palmists in around the 16th century. So, the teaching in the school was that these kinds of vidyas were unscientific, more like black magic and fit for consumption only by the weak minded. (Vidya means a body of knowledge which can be learnt and taught either through books or by a teacher. I am using this term to avoid a controversy that very often arises due to the use of the word ‘science’.) Any one found to be engaged in these activities was doing so illegally. The law abiding citizen thus would not like to be seen anywhere around an astrologer or a palmist irrespective of his personal inclinations.

• Scientific Attitude? Similarly, the scientific community would not like to be caught having a reading or consultation from an astrologer/palmist for fear of ridicule by the peer group – even if one had a genuine desire to test and explore the veracity of these vidyas. This reminded us of the Indian scientific community who scores hardly any better on this account than their European counterparts. They both equally shun the responsibility of providing proofs for these vidyas (science/art/craft). The astrologer/palmist does not have the wherewithal of providing a scientific explanation for his vidya; he can only successfully demonstrate that there is truth in his vidya and this he demonstrates time and again in the form of readings, consultations and predictions for his clients everyday. The burden of finding the ‘science’ behind everyday occurrences, whether in nature or in practice by individuals, must obviously fall on the shoulders of the scientists. But the scientific community has betrayed the most unscientific attitude towards these vidyas by rejecting them ‘without testing them’.

• Useful branches of Indian Astrologer: The western astrologer probably does not deliver any of the more ‘useful’ offshoots of astrology as does the Vedic astrologer. Only a few western astrologers practise Horary. Matching of horoscopes is done by a few on psychological lines; they have nothing as concrete as guna in matching.

They do not seem to be doing sufficient work on actual event-predictions because they have no system like dashas. All their work is focussed on transits which are never the primary causative factors for actual events. That transits are subordinate to dasha indications is a well-digested dictum for every Indian astrologer. Thus most of the work done by western astrologers confines to ever-flexible psychological pronouncements. This amounts to the condition of a hypochondriac who has every sickness that happens to have been mentioned in the book. This is not to say that no western astrologers have ever done any significant work in the realm of actual predictions. This is also not to say that majority of Vedic astrologers keep making unfailingly accurate predictions everyday. But the popular perception is always formed on the basis of consultations churned out by the majority of astrologers. My stress is on the more useful aspects of astrology mentioned above. Those aspects are missing from the arsenal of the western astrologers. Therefore, the common man in Europe does not find astrology or astrologers very useful for his day-to-day life or even during his exceptional circumstances.

• Faith in Karma: An Indian should be more tuned to belief in Karma because he has Gita’s teachings flowing through his blood from early childhood. Alas, it is not so. An average German/European has more belief in his power and ability to shape the destiny through his own efforts. The material advancements in their countries support their belief. Therefore, their disdain towards astrology is understandable.

Palm-Readings

As it turned out, Palm-readings were more readily accepted though there was no dearth of cynics, disbelievers and down right ridiculers. Yet the more open-minded people started trickling in. There were various reasons due to which they came. The most important can be broadly classified as:

1. For the sake of pure fun.
2. For the sake of curiosity, how it is done? Can it really be done? Is it not some magic?
3. Some real problems that would be gnawing at their hearts or haunting their minds and they would want to know what lay in store for them in future.
4. Some friend or colleague recommended that they must visit the Indian Palm-readers as they are something special.
5. The last but the foremost was 'When will I meet the love of my life?' or 'when will my big love come?' or 'Is my current love the love of my life?’

The fun lovers just wanted to have the experience of what it is like to have the palm read as they had no previous experience of it. Generally, they were suitably impressed and happy to have got it done. Their apprehensions turned out to be unfounded. One case comes to mind. A young American girl got her palm read and left money enough for 3 persons. A little later she came to say that we should see her friend’s palm but not tell him that we had been paid since the friend did not believe in all this. The friend refused to come despite her persuations. They came back again after an hour and this young man then got his palm read. He was amazed how we could tell so much from the palm. He disbelievingly accepted my explanation that it is a language that can be learnt by anyone. His scientific mind(?) had received a big jolt and he had gathered enough food for thought for a whole life-time. Atleast this is how he described his experience of the reading.

You know a lot of me!

Then there was this class of curious people. Many of them would just watch us doing the palm from outside the stall. They just stood fascinated watching that such a thing could be done. We were the subject of innumerable flashguns fired by such curious people. They would take the photo even if they did not know the person showing his/her palm.

After the reading many of them expressed their approval by a quaint remark, “You know a lot of me”. One such person came again after 10-12 days and asked for a repeat reading. I suggested that in 10-12 days there would have been no difference in his lines and, therefore, my reading would be the same. He told me that he wanted to ascertain if the other day I was not doing some magic, because that day I had told him something significant and he wanted to test whether I would tell him the same thing again. For a moment I was in a fix. It was nearly impossible to recall what I had told him 10 days back. Here was the question of protecting the honour of my science of palmistry. I searched hard for any abnormality or special thing in his hand and told him whatever I found. I was unsure whether I had repeated (covered) that one thing that he wanted to hear. To my utter relief (and I am sure his too) he confirmed that last time I had told him that he had had a legal hassel related to his love life (an influence line from lower mount of Mars was cutting the life line at the age of 34-35 and going towards the marriage line) at the age of 34 years and today I told him the same thing at the age of 35 years. Since the difference of 1 year was hardly material he congratulated me and promised to send a photograph of me which he had taken the last time. In a week’s time I received a letter of appreciation from him and a very crisp digital printout of my photo looking at the palm of a lady, his new conquest that earlier evening.

There were many amongst the curious who wanted to show their hands but did not want us to tell them anything bad. A very large number of people had this apprehension that if we told them about any tragic event in their future, how would they handle it. This was in direct contrast with the Indian clients who would insist that we told them everything as it is. Of course, a wise and compassionate palmist would never tell about tragic or strongly unfavourable things as it is because he has clients’ well being at the back of his mind. He also gets a fairly good idea of how well the client can take bad news by one look at the palm. Generally, a hard hand with straight head line will be able to get the useful message from the bad news and will be able to make efforts in the direction of averting the calamity. As opposed to this, a soft hand with drooping headline, pointed fingers and badly rayed mount of Moon has to be handled with care, bad news broken gently and remedial measures, if any, advised simultaneously.

I used to tell the client who forbade me from telling the bad news that he was paying for the full bottle of Coca Cola, drinking the half and throwing away the remaining half. Towards the end of the all-positive reading I would ask for the client's permission if now he/she was ready for the bad part. Most of them were in a state of reassurance by now and gave the permission for the bad news also. Actually, it is the bad news in which lies the useful aspect of palm-reading – the palmist’s advice. If everything is going great guns where is the need for any palm reading or advice?

A Typical German Hand

Having seen so many German hands, in such a short time, the picture of a typical German person was etched on our minds. As are the characteristics in the palms of its people so are the characteristics of a nation. With practice it had become possible for us to announce that even if a curtain was put between us and the client we would be able to pronounce whether we were seeing the hands of a German or a national of some other country. So typical is the hand of a typical German that we caught ourselves using the following words almost parrot-like: sincere, honest, ambitious, practical, hardworking, strong willed and well-disciplined. The palms had the features to warrant this type of reading – a well formed mount of Jupiter and the heart line commencing from it or sending an offshoot to it, square tips, head line nearly straight with a slight droop towards the end, semi hard hand and an unbending thumb. Another feature which could be considered as a 'constant' was present in majority of cases. It was a malformed heart line after the mid point. This indicated emotional unhappiness or stress after the age of 35 or 40 years. If one could generalise from these sample cases, it seemed as if the whole nation was suffering from emotional disturbances. Almost everyone was suffering from insecurities in his/her relationship. No one could say with any degree of confidence how long their present relationship would last. And that is why that was the oft-repeated question to us. It was understandable if a person would come alone and ask this question. But this question was asked even by husband-wife teams who came together – though there were few such teams. This question was an open admission in front of each other that they could be having some one else in their minds – otherwise why this question? On our reassuring them that there seemed to be good indications in the hand that they would stay together for a long time, they would express their happiness by planting a kiss on the lips of each other right in front of us.

Real Problems

The third category was of people who had some real problems at present and were looking for possible solutions or guidance in how to solve these problems. At one point of time we realized that our proficiency at palm reading would not suffice. A mere mention of a problem at present or in future does not help people. They are looking for solutions to their problems and guidance in that direction. And that is what is not given in the books on palmistry. It is only your own life-experience, your own special training or your own special interests that can help the situation.

There were all kinds of questions directed at us which had no direct answers in palmistry. My colleague had a degree in Business Management and I in Engineering. In these curricula none of what was taught to us came to our rescue. Even if our proficiency in Palmistry were ten times higher these questions would have remained unanswered if we did not make use of the techniques we had learnt from psychotherapeutics, meditation, management, or general readings in spirituality or self-development.

The techniques that were spontaneously developed and repeatedly used were mainly drawn from: Transactional Analysis (psychotherapeutics), Vipas-sana (meditation), seven Habits of Successful People by Steve Cauvey (management), seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Dr. Deepak Chopra (spiritual management), Wisdom of the New Millennium by Sri Sri Ravishankar (spiritual evolution). It would be difficult for me to place my finger on a specific source of inspiration for a specific answer as often times the guidance offered would be a mixture of several of them. These sources are any way known for their porous boundaries.

Health Problems

The clients who had specific health problems were advised a suitable remedy from Naturopathy or other alternative therapeutic systems. It came to us as a great surprise that homoeopathy was not such a popular therapy in the land of its birth as it is in India, even though the world imports its best medicines from Germany. We developed a technique to diagnose whether a client was predominantly Vaata type or Pitta or Kapha type by looking at the palm. I experimented with prescribing homoeopathic medicines such as Nux Vomica to Vaata type and Pulsatila to Pitta type because the description of Vaata imbalance matches exactly with the medicinal profile of Nux and of Pitta with Pulsatila. These medicines could work for the respective types as constitutional remedies — a concept unique to homoeopathy. We met with many cases of skin diseases. Some people reported back miraculous recoveries who had been recommended a wash with Neem-water — a harmless remedy practised in rural India. We recommended the use of emerald in the little finger, after a thorough appraisal of their horoscope, if afflicted Mercury was the planet causing their skin disease. This was prompted by a badly rayed mount of Mercury in the palm.

Simple remedies that are known to most Indians such as drinking 2-3 glasses of water in the early morning to cure constipation were reported back by some as miraculous. Bad digestion is detected easily by a badly broken line of hepatica and can be cured easily in its early stages by the above method or other naturopathic methods which have no adverse side effects. Of course we left the more complicated diseases to be handled by the well trained ayurveda experts, who were also present in the India pavillion. But unlike the physician, an astrologer or a palmist can detect a possible disease much before it manifests on the body and, therefore, a preventive regimen can be profitably prescribed.

Career Counselling

Palmistry can offer very sound advice on careers and many young men and women took advantage of that. I think personality traits and potential are more easily discernible from the palm than the horoscopic chart — at least to me. Since many people in Germany continue to study till late – even upto the age of 30 or 35 years (with intermittent breaks), what to study that will offer them a better professional success becomes a perennial question. We broke many a young heart by advising them that they should concentrate on their studies because they were not likely to become famous pop-stars. They neither had the proper Sun line nor an appropriate mount of the Moon. A strongly drooping headline with conic tips and soft hands would never give them the tenacity or perseverence so necessary to succeed in such a competitive line.

One young girl, exceptionally beautiful, was the first client one fine morning. She wanted me to guide her whether she should study medicine, psychotherapy or law. Her hand revealed that she was more beauty than brains. I took her permission to take a picture or two before giving the answer. In the process of taking her portraits I realized how photogenic she was and how powerful were her eyes. I advised her to take to modelling rather than the studies she was contemplating.

What was very surprising was that several young girls who had either passed the examinations for becoming doctors or were about to complete their courses themselves had very poor health – a very strongly criss-crossed hand, soft and delicate, islanded life line, depressed mounts of Mars, etc. Of course they had very good headlines indicating sharp minds. They had to be advised to avoid physical and mental stress so as not to fall prey to nervous breakdown because the basic vitality was low.

Psychotherapists

We saw the hands of many psychotherapists who were themselves in urgent need of therapy. Some of course were very good but the majority had serious problems in their own lives. They were vaguely aware of the benefits offerred by meditation specially by Vipassana. We extolled the virtues of meditation and told them what profound effect it had had on our lives and that they must try it not only for their own benefit but also for the benefit of their clients. One psychotherapist is coming to my mind whose head line was so defective that I was suspicious that he must be causing damage to his clients rather than offer them any improvement. On entering into a dialogue with him my suspicion got confirmed because he had a very poor practice and most of his clients did not return to him after a couple of sessions with him. His heartline was also full of islands indicating that he did not have emotional stability either.

Characters of an author

It was a matter of great delight to see the hands of many musicians, dancers and actors. To one person I told that he must be an author, a poet or a philosopher. He said he was an author. I said, “You are not writing on history, social sciences or articles based on facts; you must be writing fiction.” He said ‘yes’ and asked me, “Now that you have told a lot about my character, can you describe the characters I write?” Now this was like a second order equation in algebra, quite difficult to solve. The author had a strong imagination (bulging mount of Moon) but then so had I. The author had a strong mount of Jupiter and so had I. I told him that his characters, specially the hero, is an extremely idealistic man and would fight for the cause he stands for till the last drop of blood in his body. I had seen that this author was an idealistic man but compromised with his principles as he was also very comfort-loving. So, what he could not become in his real life he could project onto his characters and satisfy his fancies and idiosyncracies. I was dead right as the author confirmed my description of his hero. But he kept wondering aloud whether I was reading his hand or his novels or I must be having some supernatural powers.

Many other instances come to the mind. One notable case is of the actor who had come from Holland and his play was running at the Expo. He wanted me to tell him what roles he should choose so that he could turn in a powerful performance. He was advised that he should pick up high energy roles with sincere and profound dialogues because that went better with his own personality – high mount of upper Mars, strong mount of Mercury and a very good mount of Jupiter; good space between his lines of head and heart and the heart line starting from mount of Jupiter.

New Venture

Some people wanted an opinion on whether their new venture would succeed or not. To most of them we gave reassurance that they would succeed except to those in whose hands clear danger signals were visible or a special character flaw would not allow them to succeed. A good fate line if supported by a fine Sun line is a sure formula for success. But if the fate line in subsequent years had islands or breaks they were advised to make their moves rather cautiously. On the other hand, some people had plans and proposals but were hesitant to take the final step. They needed a little push to come out of their fear or complacency. There came a physics teacher who was a very fine man but was a bit too shy. He was being asked by the members of his village community to take on the responsibility of supervising the village welfare schemes. He was very hesitant. I told him to go ahead as this post could open the doors for his future evolution and influence. He had to be convinced that with his scientific and logical mind he could do a lot of good work for his community. He promised to give it a try in pursuit of his ideal of selfless social service. He had a good Sun line and a good head line besides many other supporting features in his hand.

Management Tip

There was this other lady who had inherited her father’s business but not his business acumen. She was very perplexed about how to make her staff work according to her plan. Now this should have been a question to a management guru and not to a palmist. But the question was asked with a confidence that we would be able to answer it easily. We had noticed that the lady had a bit of a headstrong character and did not think high enough of others in comparison to herself. Drawing upon our experience of dealing with our own workers we told her the game plan. “You should invite each worker to your cabin and explain the job. Then ask the worker to explain the plan how he/she is going to achieve the target.. Suggest at the appropriate time gently, how about doing it ‘this’ way. The worker can go back with the idea that the whole plan is his/her’s. Once the worker has the ownership of the plan he/she automatically takes the responsibility of making it work enthusiastically. It relieves you of the burden of constantly supervising or pushing them to work harder”.

There were many such hints that were offerred to various people which went beyond the confines of astrology or palmistry as such.

Love of My Life?

As hinted in the last article, many people would ask us whether the ‘love’ they were going through presently was ‘the love of their life’ or not? This question was asked by so many that for some time we were wondering why this question and why so often! In India this question is not normally asked.

The question was not irrelevant. It was clear from the formations in the heart line in the hands of so many. On persistent inquiries it came out that a particular book has been very popular in this part of the world. It suggests that every one has a soul-mate and once you find him/her you experience eternal bliss. The life is basically a search for such a soul-mate. This view of one’s love-life excludes from its purview the constant adjustments and sacrifices that a couple has to make to have and continue a loving relationship—a fact any happy couple would vouch for. In contrast to this the ‘soul-mate’ type of perception perpetuates a view that a special soul-mate would descend from the heavens and having descended would make your life a bed of roses all the way. After that there would be no conflicts, no arguments, no adjustments, no deceits, no betrayals, no unfaithfulness, no bitterness, no, never.

A Relationship for Seven Life Times

We in India also have a somewhat similar view which says that a relationship lasts for seven life times. To us, this provides grounds to stay together in all circumstances and results in a special cement that makes the bond stronger and unbreakable. And we start from this perception onwards. When the ‘break’ is difficult the only option left is to ‘make’ it better, for a more fulfilling life. The search ends at the altar and the couple begin to work at the marriage to constantly improve it. The impediments that come in the way are worked out and resolved in majority of the cases. And this is reflected in the heart lines of most of the individuals in India. From experience of innumerable hands we can say that the heart line of even a poor man in India is better than the heart line of a rich man in the west. And as is the heart line so is the heart, in all its manifestations. The heart line not only indicates the physical heart, it also indicates the emotional state of the individual. Where, on an Indian hand, a blemish in the heart line is likely to indicate a heart disease, on a westerner’s hand, a similar blemish is more likely to indicate the trauma caused by a broken relationship. A chain of blemishes, generally islands, will indicate a habit of falling in and out of love, rather frequently and the consequent persistent dissatisfaction from life.

To an adolescent boy we told that he was going to have a series of girl friends, one after another. He sounded very happy at that prospect. We had to point out to him that what it also meant was that he was going to have as many heart-breaks also. "Why would you need the next girl friend if you are going strong with the previous one?" The euphoria from his face vanished in no time.

How to Row a Boat

Since no mates are perfect, the search for the soul-mate begins immediately after a relationship comes to a stage of maturity (read marriage or live-in relationship). Time and attention is not given to improving the existing relationship. They continue to search for a new boat in the hope that the next boat will be better, instead of learning how to row the boat on hand. Once you learn how to row a boat, you can row any boat. This apt description of the situation was extracted from ‘Wisdom of the New Millennium’ by Sri Sri Ravishankar, the popular spiritual guru that propagates ‘Art of Living’ across the continents and has a substantial presence in Germany. We told many women this paradigm of the boat, and it turned out to be very effective in shifting the focus from searching a soul-mate outside to improving the relationship with the present mate.

A Goldsmith Daughter

A 49 year old woman came to show her hand with her daughter aged 29 years, to translate for her. The daughter stands out in our memory for her exquisite, finely chiseled beauty, sensitivity and excellent English. The daughter had recently lost her husband who had died of cancer and she still very fondly remembered him, not having come out of the trauma yet. She was a goldsmith (an unheard of profession for women, in India). After the usual hand reading, the mother asked me, ‘When will I have the love of my life?’ right in front of her daughter, whose father she was still living with. This question rattled me no end. It was an admission by the lady in front of her daughter, ‘I don’t love you father and I am looking outside to find someone better.’ I can only hope that after an appropriate dose of the boat paradigm from me, that lady would return home and look at her husband with a new found interest and perspective, first time in a long time.

Due to the innumerable cases that came of the above mentioned variety we were forced to conclude that it was a nation of emotionally disturbed people. How long a nation can progress when a majority of its people are starved of emotional satisfaction. In contrast, the older women who had faced the world war had smoother and sturdier heart lines resulting in a more emotionally fulfilled life. This can be a subject of research for social scientists to find out the reasons for such dissatisfactions in life amidst such plenty. May be easy availability of multiple choices in every sphere of life creates a dissatisfaction of its own kind, unknown to a poverty-ridden society.

An Indian Expert Says Future can be Read from the Hand

We were nearly half way through the Expo-duration and business wasn’t too good, though it had been steadily building up. One morning a young girl came, showed her hand and asked a lot of questions. While departing she told us that she was from the press. A few days later she sent a photographer who took about a hundred pictures in 5-10 minutes (it was a digital camera). And a few days later, a write up along with photographs appeared in the Expo-daily newsletter: ‘Indische Experten zeigen ihr Koennen: Die Zukunft liegt auf der Hand’. The day it appeared we were swamped with visitors wanting to show their hands. That day turned out to be the longest and the heaviest day of our entire Expo experience. The cramp in the neck that I developed that day, bending over palms of the visitors, hasn’t cured even after 6 months. The business never looked back since that day. The T.V. and the radio also took interviews and broadcast them. On many other occasions the press people came and showed their hands. The press there too, like in India, thought it was their birth right to get these services, free of cost. It would be unfair to say that all of them were like that, since one of them presented us a very useful folding dinner cutlery set for picnics.

A Workshop on Vedic Astrology

Early in the Expo days, a lady got her horoscope made. She was herself a professional western astrologer. At the end of our discussion, she proposed that I conduct a workshop for western astrologers to acquaint them of Vedic Astrology. I was already going to Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, in Pennsylvania, USA, to conduct a week-long intensive workshop on Ashtakavarga.

So, to get interested students enrolled in the workshop, she organised an introductory lecture at a central place in the city, after my return from US. In the lecture I told them of the so many 'useful' branches that Vedic astrology has. As a result of the lecture some students enrolled for the workshop. The lady who organised the lecture also very kindly provided the space at her house for the workshop, and of course was the first one to enroll.

Towards the end of the workshop, the students decided to discuss the horoscopes of the two characters, representing the two extremes of the national obsession — Hitler and Goethe. We picked up some important events from their lives and discussed how they reflected in their respective horoscopes through the methods of Vedic astrology. As it turned out, if there was no graha-yuddha (planetary war) between Mars and Venus of Hitler (the lagna and the 7th lord of his chart respectively), there would have been no world war II. In the graha-yuddha, Mars had won. If Venus would have won, Hitler would not have been refused admission in the Fine Arts Academy where he applied twice and was rejected twice. Rest is history at its most gruesome.

Goethe, the literary giant, is a darling and pride of all Germans. They can talk about him animatedly for hours together. Why did the aristrocratic Goethe marry a woman much below his own status turned out to be the handiwork of Saturn, the significator of low castes in Vedic astrology.

The Esoteric Fare

Like it is Mystique India in Delhi, many cities in Germany organise such fares where people interested in esoteric subjects gather together. One comes across palmistry, astrology, aroma-therapy, aura reading, beads, incense sticks, spiritual music and many lesser known techniques in such fares. A lady aura reader had organised some space for me in another city where such a fare was being planned. There I saw for the first time how computerised palmistry was done. The ‘operator’—it is difficult to call him a ‘palmist’—sits in front of a large chart and clicks on it the various features he sees in the palm. Attached to each click there is a statement stored in the computer as an interpretation of that feature. A computer printout is thus generated and handed over to the client. Whereas I was very busy, though I was charging double the amount, they were sitting idle. A little reflection on my part clarified that it was not me to whom people flocked, it was their desire to have a piece o India which brought them to me. Another reason of the queue in front of my stall, was my lecture on Vedic astrology one day and on palmistry another day.

The Hand of a Famous German Actress

At about 3:30 one afternoon, an officer from the India Pavillion came and insisted that I see the hand of a very famous German actress. I was feeling very hungry and said I could do that after my lunch. He told me she couldn’t wait, she was a very big actress. I told the officer, I would see the hand only after lunch, even if she was a ‘Madhuri Dikshit’. The actress, sans make-up, came after my lunch. She had a most remarkable palm. It was very firm with the prominent lines marked very deep and clear, and a straight head line. Over all a very practical and down to earth hand, not at all the feminine kind one imagines the actresses would have. Not having seen any of her films we were unconcerned about her celebrity status but whoever passed our stall at that time became a part of the growing crowd. Her security stood at guard in plain clothes at a respectable distance. Whoever we told later that she was sitting in the same chair, at the same place, doing the same thing as did Ushi Glass, a few days back, jumped out of the seat and found hard to believe it. Judging from her age and fame, her counterparts in India could have been Nutan or Waheeda Rehman in their hey days.

A Devotee of Sai Baba

It was only at the end of a reading-session that I told a very successful Canadian businessman that he had combined business and spirituality very well and his spiritual growth would speed up in years to come. He said he had come to me and was waiting only to hear that. He told us that he was a devotee of Sai Baba and was planning to travel to India next month.

There were some others who wanted our opinion about Sai Baba. Having had no direct experience of Sai Baba’s spiritual powers, all we could say was that he was a highly revered saint and a spiritual guru in India with a tremendous fan-following all over the world.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna Devotees

A German couple came and got their horoscopes made. The lady wanted me to read her chart. During the discussion it turned out that she was not only conversant with but also had very good knowledge of Vedic astrology. For me it is always a pleasure to discuss a horoscope rather than dish out a prediction. During the discussion, her very handsome husband sat by the side intently but quietly. With their clothes and manners it was clear that they were serious devotees of the ISKCON movement. They had been to Vrindavan many times. They went away quite satisfied.

An hour later they came again. This time the husband wanted to show his horoscope. As it turned out, he was an ex-policeman turned professional Vedic astrologer, practising in a small town in Germany, along with propagating the ecstatic bhajan culture of ISKCON. On my asking why he needed a reading from me, he unhesitatingly said, “Because you seem to know better." He wanted my advice whether he would he successful in learning Ayurveda and practising it and whether they should go to Vrindavan to learn it. Ayurveda is the buzz word in Germany these days. I told him the method and the sensitive points of his horoscope so that he could see it and find the answers himself. He was grateful. I had not seen a German couple till then who thought and behaved so much like an Indian couple. Their knowledge of Gita, Upanishads and Indian mythology, specially of Bhaagwat, could beat any ordinary religious Indian hollow. They had not only read and re-read all that, they seemed to have digested and imbibed much of that philosophy and could quote from them at the drop of a hat. They obviously found themselves misfits in the present day German culture.

The Russian Artist

The lady who had got us the apartment to live in became quite fascinated with palmistry. Her fascination did not start before testing us. One day she came with a Russian lady and showed her hand to my colleague. By the time I arrived at the stall they had finished the reading. As if throwing a challenge she asked me if I could tell the profession of the lady. The hand reveals the characteristics, talents and aptitudes of a person, not the profession, at least not directly. Nevertheless, I accepted the challenge. As I started uttering a few professions (creativity was the hall mark of her hand as she had a beautiful mount of Moon with a curving headline, strong mount of Apollo with a spatulate finger tip and a prominent mount of Venus supported by other minor features) the first one happened to be ‘an artist’. I had won the day for Indian palmists because the lady was indeed an art teacher and an accomplished artist, and came from the same village as that of the noted Russian artist, Marc Chagall. Though Chagall was one artist I had very little appreciation for, but this lady was worthy of the highest appreciation for her versatility as an artist as well as for being such a very warm human being. Our communication was a bit difficult as our knowledge of Russian and German matched her proficiency at English or Hindi. This first meeting culminated into a visit to her home, a veritable art gallery, in a town about 150 km from Hanover. That night she sketched, most skillfully, a captivating portrait of my wife, in the classical style, in flat one hour.

Happiness Switch

The overwhelming number of people showing defective heart lines and consequent unhappy lives prompted us to counsel them on these innovative lines: God has given all of us a switch in our heads, let's call it the Happiness Switch. It is possible to be happy, at least for a few moments, even in the midst of most dire circumstances. It is possible for each one of us to recognise the presence of this switch and switch it on every time we realize that some thing has made us unhappy. All one has to do is:

1. Learn to watch one’s thoughts. One can easily cultivate such a habit if one starts looking within.
2. Recognise when our thoughts are making us unhappy.
3. Switch on the Happiness switch and resolve to be happy consciously.
4. Get into the habit of switching on at shorter and shorter intervals.

Initially one may remember to switch it on once a week, after a little practice, once a day, then once every hour and then graduate to once every second. Which means one can programme oneself to be in perennial bliss. Being happy can be a matter of habit and choice. Moreover what can an unhappy mind distribute — unhappiness. A happy mind has the capacity to distribute happiness. And it is actually as simple as switching an electrical switch on. Moreover, happiness in our mind brings happiness in our circumstances. There is a golden adage that helps us to be more proficient at the use of this switch —
‘We feel sorrow only when we forget how fortunate we are.’

Change the Response

This same adage led us to counsel many women who were in deep distress:

Happiness or unhappiness is a product of interaction between the circumstance and the response to it. Most people subconsciously believe that the reason for their unhappiness lies in their circumstances. A circumstance by itself is neither happy nor unhappy and that is why different people respond differently to the same circumstance. It is the response that determines whether the circumstance is happy or unhappy. To bring about happiness, one can either change the circumstance (read husband) or change the response. Usually, circumstance is far more difficult to change than the response.

Suppose someone uses abusive language against you and calls you names for some thing he thinks you have done wrong. (It is a circumstance for you though it is a response on the part of that someone). You have at least 3 kinds of responses possible:

1. The first and the most automatic response is that you give back as good as it comes to you. The result is likely to be negative because the heat will increase and tempers would rise. In an extreme case violence may follow.
2. The second response can be of stone-walling yourself against the abusive assault and behave as if you are not taking what is being given to you. This will result into a neutral situation, neither good nor bad.
3. The third response can be, “I am sorry I have caused you some discomfort. Thank you very much for making me aware of that. This evening when I sit for meditation I will ponder over what you are saying and if there is some grain of truth in it I will correct myself and apologise to you.” This is likely to bring positive results, and may be it is the other person who apologises to you for his short temper. You are likely to become friends.

What happens to most of us is that we begin to justify our first response. But the point is that we are not looking for justification, we are looking for happiness arising out of the circumstance. At best we muster up the second response, specially if the other person is more powerful than us. But those who are seeking happiness should take time to formulate a response that, in its wake, will bring peace and friendship, rather than violence and enmity. This attention to response needs to be observed not only in our interaction with outsiders but also with our family members.

Some one has put it very succinctly:
You are not upset because you have problems, you have problems because you are upset.

Since, almost every second hand that we saw belonged to a person who was emotionally upset, this kind of counselling was practically the only good outcome for the client out of her decision to get the palm read.

Why am I so Angry?

A young man came one evening. He had the most beautiful and bewitching smile I had ever seen on a man’s face. He asked me, “Why am I so angry?” I didn’t need to see his palm or horoscope to answer his question. To tell him that his mount of lower Mars was very strong or his Moon was afflicted by Mars would not have given him any satisfaction or help. Instead I asked him back, "Why do you have such a beautiful smile?" He had no answer. I told him that he was asking a wrong question and the right question could be, “How should I deal with my anger?” He agreed that that in fact was his question.

I told him that no one had control over the anger that entered our head but one could have control over how to express that anger — in a safe way, so that in its wake it did not invite further anger or any other damage. In other words ‘you do not have control over stimulus but you can exercise control over your response.’ And the more you work on the alternative response as opposed to the automatic response, the more successfully you would be able to deal with your anger. Having given him the key strategy to deal with the anger, I also gave him the address of the Vipassana Centre in Germany where he could work on it at the experiential level and not just the intellectual level.

Progeny at Late Age

Many women in the age group of 35-45 came to ask if they could have a child. The panic had already set in because they were stepping into that age-zone where child-bearing becomes progressively more difficult. It is easier and more definitive to find out about childlessness from the horoscope. Most of the cases were actually of childlessness. They were willing to adopt any remedial measure we would suggest. A yellow sapphire to strengthen Jupiter, the significator of progeny was often recommended. The delay in having progeny was obviously due to doubts in continuity of the relationship and frequent changing of the partners. And then all of a sudden the prospects of inability to bear a child due to age-bar begins to stare in their face.

Recitation of Santaana Gopala Mantras could have been recommended but for their difficulty in pronouncing the Sanskrit texts. Though there were some people who had received a mantra (Gayatri Mantra or Mahamrityunjaya Mantra) from some guru but they could not read them properly. For that, they brought their cassette recorders, so we could record for them the Sanskrit mantras with correct pronunciation.

Translations

We, in India, should learn about having pride in our own language from the Germans. They hardly print anything in English, not even the daily newspaper dedicated to the Expo, which was essentially an international affair. All their circulars, bills, statements and announcements came in German with no accompanying translations. We found to our amazement that there were more books on Vedic Astrology written by American authors and translated into German than by Indian authors. The Indian authors have not yet set their eyes on the vast market of books on Vedic Astrology that exists beyond the English speaking world.

Though English is taught in the German schools, few students bother to learn it properly – except the bright students who go for higher technical studies, specially in IT related subjects. Nevertheless, the younger crowd knew better English than the older people – specially women. Therefore, we faced substantial difficulty since we did not have any regular translators assisting us. Although we had a sheet of paper containing all the key words translated into German, oftentimes, conversation was difficult. Under such circumstances any one who would translate was, for us, a god-sent angel.

One elderly gentleman was getting his palm read. He was a scientist. Some one came and wanted the translation for her palm-reading. This gentleman eagerly offered to translate, leaving his own reading in the middle. While parting he promised to present us a book: ‘Cheiro’s Language of the Hand’. He kept his promise next time he came. The book was original (now a days only pirated copies are available), had his own markings in the margin. We cherish this book not only because it reminds us of a selfless good Samaritan, but also because the illustrations are well-printed.

There were many people who helped at the occasional translations, but we hit the jackpot by befriending the two charming ladies who were conducting meditation courses everyday, inside the India Pavillion, on behalf of the ‘Art of Living Foundation’. Whenever they were free from their lectures they would join us for refreshments, food, gossip and translations. They did the job of translations with such kindness and compassion that it was certainly a great value-addition to our readings. In making friendship with these ladies stronger, and hopefully long lasting, there was no mean contribution of my wife's culinary expertise. Indian food was a hit with them and we often had lunch and dinner together. Listening to the tapes of spiritual discourses by the guru, Sri Sri Ravishanakarji or the bhajans preceded such dinners.

One of these ladies never asked me to read her palm though she had translated for me on scores of occasions. She had also got us to do many readings for her friends and relatives. The last day of the Expo came. She asked me, “When are you going to read my palm?”

She had to be explained that it was not out of neglect that I had not read her palm in so many months, but it was due to the injunction I follow, that one should read the palm only when asked to. While reading her palm I told her that she was mentally perturbed till the age of 35 years and after that there was a miraculous change in her mental make-up. She confirmed that that was when she met the guru and started to follow his teachings and meditation.

A Man in Exile

Once a distinguished looking middle aged man came to us. From his face-cut it was obvious that he was not of German origin. To such people I would normally ask which country they belonged to, to take care of the factors of desha, kaala and paatra. This man said he would tell me later, not then. I had no option but to respect his wishes. His head line was very disturbed in the early period of his youth and had repaired remarkably later. I told him that he had gone through many mental upsets during the age of 19 to 28. I also told him that he became a successful person later and he might be in the profession of teaching or writing (strong mounts of Jupiter and Moon with good fate line). The man kept listening intently without uttering a word. At the end of the reading he revealed that he was a Tibetan who had to run away at that age due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. For many years he had to wander about in different countries till he finally made Germany his home. Currently, he was a professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Berlin. The head line was showing a true record of his mental state, then and now.

Father and Son duo

We were generally surprised that, but for a few exceptions, most adults came and showed their hands but did not bother to show the hands of their children. In India, the normal behaviour would be just the opposite. But one prosperous looking man came with his young son, bargained about the fee and showed his son’s hand. It was one of the squarest hands with the ‘straightest’ headline and thick, short fingers. I told the man that his son would become a very successful businessman when he grew-up (very well marked fate line too). To this, the man replied that his son was already making money — by selling to the neighbourhood kids the toys he has played with and outgrown. The father was a successful businessman in the construction line.

The palms very often show hereditary trends, not only between parents and children but often between grand- parents and grand children too.

Mother and Daughter duo

Now a case quite opposite to the above. A lady with a grown-up daughter came and showed her own hand first. She had a very balanced, practical and philosophical hand. She was a psychotherapist by profession, and I reckon, a good one. When the daughter showed her hand it was exactly the opposite — a wide space between head line and life line, the headline drooping to a strong mount of Moon, long fingers on a long hand, heart line composed of a series of islands. I had to tell her that she was very different from her mother. She agreed entirely. She was in the show- business and was a singer with a lot of spontaneity. She was estranged from her husband. According to her, men in Germany suffered from lack of communication and that this was a major cause of strained relationships. We tended to agree. Men were generally reserved and it showed on their faces that they had a lot of bottled up emotions. Opening up of communication channels could do them a lot of good.

Artificial Nails

Use of artificial nails was a very popular fashion. This robbed us, palmists, of some vital information about the person. Shape of the finger tip (square, spatulate, conic or pointed), colour and texture of the nail give vital clues about health and habits of a person.

A fashionable lady came one late night. She was not only wearing artificial nails, she was also running a saloon to fix the artificial nails. It was not possible to remove the nails and put them on again easily. About a month later she appeared again. I asked her if she had not shown her hand before. She declined. As the palm-reading progressed I became certain that she had shown the hand earlier since I could recall many distinguishing features in her hand. Later, she conceded that she was testing whether we would say any thing different this time.

Gifts Galore

Though western societies are often called materialistic societies, we were touched by the warmth shown by so many of them, not through empty words but through thoughtful gifts. Some one brought apples and grapes from her garden, some one brought chocolates and cakes. But the most unforgettable gift was from a lady who brought for us quilted seat covers to place on our wooden chairs. She told us that in the October winter of Germany we won’t able to sit on the bare chairs.

Would you grudge us writing this piece basking in the warm glow of such sincere love and affection from so many. For us, it was essentially a very pleasant trip down the memory lane. Palmistry was only the backdrop of it, not the essence.

© Vinay Aditya, Vedic Astrology