Leave omens to a hyperactive imagination

Our family was going through a particularly harrowing time — obstacles in our daily routines, members falling seriously ill at times, and soaring water bills for no concrete reason. We declared emergency and unanimously agreed to see a fortune-teller to coax and resolve with soothing future predictions.

The man of the hour spread out his professional paraphernalia — threw with finesse half a dozen cowrie shells on a mystical chart, checking now and then on his computer that obviously was pronouncing the verdict. His forehead, resplendent with sacred vermilion and his eyes gleamed as he comforted us, ‘Your good times will come in another six months’. Well, the prophetic discourse hardly provided solace and we left making him richer.

Whether his prophecy proved true or not, people were attracted to him as bees were to cosmos. This anecdote is very important for us Indians, who are often guided by many of those so-called sciences that predict future. There are enough incongruous and irrational ways to ‘know’ our future in advance — such as astrology, palmistry, face-reading, tarot cards, mystic charts and so on. We are genetically engineered to believe in talking parrots and gazing at a crystal ball to derive positive energies.

While it can be fun listening to raconteurs who speak volumes about your future, it is altogether a different matter to let the words of those people guide you in your life. The danger lies in the fact that those words can easily become self-fulfilling prophecy, if we take them seriously. Once we believe in those words we are likely to surrender to the ‘inevitable’ and guide our own actions, knowingly or unknowingly, towards fulfilling those very words. If one were to ignore or challenge the words and carry on, in all likelihood one will achieve what is planned; and not what someone predicted.

If we care to analyse with the help of rationale, it is easy to conjecture that we witness today the results of our actions in the past. While some of us may choose to be modest and give credit to god, dead forefathers, the stars or some other entity for whatever happens, an objective introspection and it boils down to the fact that it happened only because of our action or inaction in the past.

One superstitious patient of my husband refused to get admitted during the time of rahu. The effects of rahu are believed to be at its peak at certain times of the day. During the rahukaal, people cease all work and refrain from speech. No ceremony or new project begins at this inauspicious time. Whether you endorse it or not, barber shops still remain closed on Tuesdays and if you possibly want to cut nails at night, be wary of evil spirits later on.

While shopping one day, I noticed a profound quote on the t-shirt. It read, ‘The best way to predict the future is to invent it’. The quote impressed me and got me thinking.

A black cat crosses your path and you go back, a crow caws and visitors are expected. A lizard falls on your head and you live in fear of death! All these are omens or figments of an over-active imagination. Irrespective of the veracity of these, they make for great leisure reading. As Peter Drucker rightfully said, ‘It serves no purpose trying to know the future, instead be ready to work hard and create one!’