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112 vida!

TEXT SUZANE AVADIAR

IN SEARCH

PHOTOGRAPHY NICHOLAS LEE @ M8 STUDIO

What would you say if someone told you that there is an ancient science that canpredict exactly where your life is heading, and you have the chance to know it all?

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ONCE SAID,

"The future belongs to those whobelieve in the beauty of their dreams."Wise words. Still, wouldn't it be niceif we had some hints about exactlywhat the future holds? Ifwe wereactually given the option of knowingdetails about our family, relationships,fortune, career and everything elseimportant, how many of us wouldwant to know?Perhaps the one factor that holds

us back from finaing out about the

future is the source. Many of us areborn sceptics. So when someone tellsus about a form of science that predictsour future accurately, our firstinstinct is to shrug it off as puremumbo-jumbo!Shrouded in the mists of time,

Naadi Shastra (Naadi meaning 'insearch of) is an ancient science thathas been in use for at least 4,000years. Basically, it is predictions, inprose and commentary form, writtenin Sanskrit on ala or palm-leaf scrolls.

It is believed that these predictionswere composed by the Sapta Rishis(seven sages) - Agasthya, Kausika,Vyasa; Bohar, Bhrigu, Vasishthaand Valmiki.Each prediction is presented as

conversations between Lord Shiva andMata Parvathi, who expressed concernsand gave blessings to all their devotees.It is also believed that every humanbeing on this planet has his or herpersonal leaf, with his or her lifewritten on it - past, present and

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TESTIMONIALSSaraswathy Shirke, a 26-year-old lawlecturer has visited two Naadi readersin the past two years. Her first reading,she says, was more accurate andauthentic, while the second was far-fetched and obviously not the realMcCoy! When shevisited the Naadireader for the firsttime, she had fourkandam read, andthe reader was veryspecific in his initialquestions, finding herleaf after just three.She gave no other

information excepther thumbprint, yethe was able to drawall her planetarycharts from this.He made severalpredictions, whichSaraswathy sayshave taken place -especially thoseconcerning hereducation and·profession. Also,several predictionsabout relationshipswere accurate, whilethe rest have yet totake place, as theyare meant to happenwhen she is older.Her second encounter, however,

was in complete contrast to her first.He asked too many questions, especiallyconcerning her name. He would askher one question about letters in hername and then BOon to a topiccompletely irrelevant, and then come

back to more questions while trying toguess her name."He almost gave me the impression

like he was just throwing me off whiletrying to guess what my name was.Naadi reading is all about absoluteprecision and there is no room for

her name was in two parts, how manyletters and what syllables it startedwith. With a common Indian namesuch as hers, it would not be hardto guess the name with all thisinformation!"There was definitely a lot of

disparity betweenthe two readings,and it made merealise that thereare the real readersand there arefakes," she said."Naadi reading isan ancient scienceand I have donetons of reading onthis subject, as wellas astrology. It hasbeen mentionedin the Veda but itis not religious innature," she added."I learnt that

you have to bevery careful inwhat you believewhen you seekNaadi readersand astrologers.We all have apurpose tocontribute to the

mind games and 20 questions!"Saraswathy said.From her previous experience,

Saraswathy knew that the reader shouldonly ask questions such as "Is yourname so and so?" and, if not, go on tothe next leaf. He should be asking if

universe - onethilt is pre-deter-mined - but how

we eventually do it is still in ourhands. Sciences like Naadi readingcan give us directions and options,but we still have a major role to playin deciding what our destiny is,"Saraswathy said.

For Helen Avadiar, a 3I-year-old PRconsultant, all things supernatural andpsychic have always been an instantlure. Naturally, when she first heardof Naadi Shastra a few years ago, shewas intrigued. Unfortunately, her firstand only encounter with a Naadireader was not a good experience."Right off the bat, Iwas sceptical andI rarely am about these things. Ibelievein their existence and Iknow that Naadireading is something very reliableand true. Still, I tried to keep an openmind and allowed the Naadi readerto do his thing," Helen recounted.Although she had never been to one

before, she knew the procedures andpractices of Naadi reading in essence.The reader she went to asked for herthumbprint, but also her date andtime of birth, which she felt wasrather odd. When he came back intothe room with a few bundles andstarted asking various questions,Helen already knew this reader wasnot authentic.Still, curiosity killed the cat, and

Helen allowed him to proceed whenhe told her he had found her leaf."Although he did draw up myastro-logical chart for me, Iwas not reallyimpressed because anyone who iswell-versed in astrology will be ableto do that with your date and time ofbirth," she added.The one mistake that Helen made,

however, despite having some back-ground information on Naadi, wasnot being careful enough with theinformation she was giving out.Thinking back later, she realised thatshe had corrected him once or twiceinstead of just saying 'yes' or 'no',when he asked the initial questions.Another setback was that the general

reading is all about informationconcerning names of your parents,information about siblings, and pastevents that have occurred up to thatpoint in your life. "The reader alreadyhad this information about me frommy mom and there were points whenI noticed he was glancing down at thebook he had placed just below theleaves!" she added."I think the basic lesson to be learnt

is that while Naadi astrology is verytrue and accurate - and I know thisfrom friends who have had theirleaves read from authentic readersand experienced all the predictionsthat came true - we still have to bevery careful about who we go to see,"Helen cautioned."The sad thing is that not many

people know exactly how to distinguishthe real and the fake readers, and gettaken for a ride. What's worse is thatit taints people's perception of thissacred craft as a whole, and they mightsoon stop believing in its authenticity!"she added. V