N - WEDNESDAY 9 OCTOBER 2002

WEDNESDAY 9 OCTOBER 2002

Come holidays and my life had seemed so free then from the regular
school life. No school, no studies, no fixed timings and no sayings
from mummy, " Oh dear go and get ready for school," or " get up or you
will miss your school today", or even, " have you finished your
homework, come and have your dinner and go to bed, no more T.V.", and
so many other things. Then it had seemed to me that mom was only after
me but now I find that it was all for my good.

During the holidays, it became a habit for me to go to the market place
mostly, everyday. Going to the market was not at all difficult because
we did have a private rickshaw for easy going and coming. The rickshaw
was registered as Private No. 3 which was painted in black at the
back.

The thing I liked the most at the market place was to watch those
fortune-tellers who sat in a row under the shade of the neem trees.
There was one palm-reader and three others who had parrots in their
cages to tell the fortunes and even there was a man with a bull who was
in this profession.

I always found the palm-reader seated at the trunk of a neem tree. As
he reached the place in the morning, he swept his portion with a broom
that he hid the broom behind the other side of the tree trunk. Under
the neem trees, yellow neem fruits, flowers and dry leaves would be
seen strewn on the dry earth. But this man tidied the place he used the
whole day till the time he left for his house. After cleaning he would
spread out a cloth and sit on it. Gradually he would open a bundle and
take out some books, some palm leaf writings and a sheet of paper on
which there was a sketch of a horoscope. He also had a small wooden
box, a few cowries (very small white shells) and his spectacles in the
hard cover. He was always dressed in a white dhoti and white kurta, the
whiteness had taken the colour of a brown tinge. A white cloth always
hung over his right shoulder. He had shoulder length long hair and long
beard. He seemed to be around 45 years. He back brushed his hair and
smeared his forehead with sandal wood paste. He spread out his
belongings of books, palm leafs, wooden box, cowries, horoscope sketch
in such a orderly manner that it made him look as if he was proficient
in his trade. Although he was thin and tall, yet there was graveness on
his face.

People came to him to learn about their future. The person who came to
him would sit on his haunches in front of the palm-reader and stretch
out his right palm for examination and reading.
This man would then take hold of the others hand and chant some mantras
in Sanskrit. He would then open the case, take out his spectacles and
place its legs on his ears and the bridge on his nose. With a grave
face he would start telling the man many good things and then answer to
his questions which the other was very eager to know. At times he would
use a magnifying glass taken out of that small wooden box to read the
lines on the palm more clearly. Even at times this fortune-teller would
let the other stretch out both the hands and he would then peer from
the left palm to the right, give a thoughtful expression and then tell
something very gravely. When everything would be over, his customer,
satisfied with the answers, would take out the money charged by this
expert and hand it over to him. His charges were not very high for most
of the people who came to seek his help in reading their future were
ordinary common people. At times he did have a rich customer who paid
him handsomely if his words pleased him. This palm-reader made a living
out of the small income he made by sitting under this tree.

A little further away from him, under another shady tree three other
fortune-tellers could be seen seated close by. There were three big
neem trees, which gave shade and cool breeze to those who sat under
them and many temporary business ran briskly under its shade. The three
other fortune-tellers were a bit different from the previous one. They
took the help of parrots to tell fortunes. Each one of them had a box
type cage in which they had two parrots. They seated themselves on the
earth by spreading out gunny bags. Their belongings were the cage, the
two parrots and a bunch of hand made cards with writings on both sides
in devnagari script (Hindi). These three also made brisk business. As a
person approached any one of them, they would make him sit in front of
the parrot's cage, open the front, make a parrot come out, pick up a
written card from the bunch and hand it him. He would then put the
parrot back into the cage. Soon he would start reading the writings on
the card and interpret it to the fortune-seeker. Both the parrots would
be used alternately for picking the cards. God alone knows how much
truth lay in their future forecasting. The customer, after knowing his
future, paid the amount the teller asked for and went away. Like the
palm-reader these parrot fortune-tellers had ordinary men coming up to
them, who sat before them and were satisfied with the few comforting
words that pleased their minds and thoughts. At times some one or the
other turned up before them only out of curiosity but paid the dues.
These three also earned their livelihood under the shady neem
trees.

Another casual fortune-teller would come now and then. He came with a
bull which was decked with a colourful embroidered cloth placed on its
back and the neck of the bull was adorned with a necklace of red, blue,
yellow, green and black beads. The forehead of this black bull was
smeared with vermilion paste. Even the horns were adorned with beads
and colours. This man and his bull always attracted a big crowd and he
made easy money. He had a fixed price for a question. This man first
collected the money and then only the person could ask a question. By
the nod of the bulls head this man gave the interpretation only in yes
or no.

Really, I enjoyed these fortune-tellers during those days of my life. I
spent a lot of time watching them closely and also those people who
were so curious to know their future. For me it did create a great
picture in my mind but I only enjoyed it.

I don't believe in fortune-telling for I know what is to happen will
happen. But if I think it the other way round, it may be a sense of
fear that if anything adverse is told to me, I may not be able to stand
it.

But so long life goes on some people will try to know about their
future from such fortune-tellers.