Opinion | Astro-Bureaucrats: The Binding Force Of Astrology

Entering the civil services, exposure to an unexpected subject occurred – Astrology! Before entering the service, the only exposure to Astrology was the Sunday newspaper that had a column, “How’s This

Week for You?” With great hopes, the Aries segment would be scanned. But, after joining the civil services, a whole new world of esoteric knowledge was stumbled upon that could get anybody addicted for a whole lifetime! Jyotisha or astrology is a vast encyclopaedia of knowledge comprising horoscope reading of birth chart, prasna marga, palmistry, face reading, palm leaf reading, card reading by parrots, coffee cup reading, also known as tasseography or cafeomancy — the practice of divining or telling fortunes by interpreting the patterns left behind in a coffee cup after the grounds have settled — similarly tea leaf reading, ink reading, numerology, nameology, colour vibrations, Vastu Shastra, and Feng Shui. What an incredible array of centuries of accumulated knowledge to glean the future of human destiny! Astrology was a binding force that glued bureaucrats, cutting across different faiths, denominations, castes, and regions. It was a national obsession!

The very first day in office, I got introduced to an unexpected visitor, a clerical rank officer, by the name Mr Sharma (name changed) who was highly proficient in astrology and a Sanskrit scholar. His first task was the realignment of the furniture in the room and the direction of seating, in order to make it Vastu compliant. This was done for the maximisation of beneficial internal energies and subduing any negative forces. A bamboo plant in a small jar was procured and positioned on the table, as an additional countermeasure against any lurking negative force.

Mr Sharma was a man in great demand by officers of all ranks and designations, seeking quick remedies for career growth and family issues. Instead of office work, he was assigned to track planetary movements on a daily basis, identify which planet was itching to play mischief on human lives, and most important, prescribing remedial measures to neutralise diabolical forces.
While in foreign countries, astrologers tried to read the planetary positions and their effects, only Indian astrologers had the proficiency to prescribe remedial measures based on Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) principles.

Mr Sharma had a vast repertoire of knowledge of several powerful temples, spread across South India, that could alleviate the intensity of inimical planets, if appropriate Poojas were performed. This knowledge not only ensured a huge local clientele, but a steady flow of high-ranking bureaucrats from New Delhi, who would chalk out official tours but ostensibly to consult Mr Sharma.

In the world of bureaucrats, colleagues, rivals and competitors can emerge to grab lucrative posts, powerful posts or cushy assignments in foreign countries, hence it was important to ensure that planets do not play spoilsport in human affairs. So there were umpteen visits to Temples, using official vehicles, performance of elaborate poojas, and reciting shlokas every day that would please the moody planet. Next day, the driver would reveal which officer went to which Temple and performed what type of pooja!

Other defensive measures included regular scanning of the office table and underneath the chair, to rule out the possibility, not of bugging gadgets, but items of black magic like copper yantras engraved with strange geometrical patterns, or inscriptions, nails, and even animal parts, kumkum, and turmeric powder!

A very popular destination for visiting bureaucrats from other parts of the country was the famed Vaitheeswaran Kovil, a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, in Mayiladuthurai District (presently) in Tamil Nadu. But, this temple was also famous for Nadi Astrology, which deciphered the future from reading of ancient palm leaf manuscripts. The basis of Nadi astrology is the writings in ancient Tamil language, inscribed on palm leaf manuscripts, that reveals everything about any person’s past, present and future. The readings trace a person’s previous births, reasons for present Karmic ordeals and what the future birth is likely to be! Politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen constitute the major clientele.

A transfer to Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) was another great astrological exposure. Calcutta could be called an Astro-city, umpteen jewellery shops and all of them had an in-house astrologer, prescribing gemstones of different colours, that could attract or repel Planets. The entire population of men and women were sporting coloured gemstones on all their fingers.
The immediate boss in Calcutta was an astrology addict. Meeting an astrologer everyday was on his agenda, and he would compel all the young officers under him to accompany him on his daily ‘Darshan’ of astrologers. His one and only daily query was focused on his sole ambition to become an MP/MLA. One young officer even quipped that his familiarity with the astrologers of Calcutta gave him sufficient knowledge to bring out a ‘Who’s who in Astrology in Calcutta’!

A very popular pooja performed by the bureaucrat community and politicians was the ‘Shatru-Samhara’ Pooja. Shatru Samhara Pooja is a powerful Vedic ritual dedicated to Lord Subramanya (also known as Karthikeya or Murugan) to overcome enemies, negative energy, and obstacles. The name breaks down to “Shatru” meaning “enemy” and “Samhara” meaning “destruction”. The Pooja is performed to seek protection from evil eyes, curses, and destructive influences, and to bring victory, peace, and success to the devotee. There was always one set of bureaucrats performing the Shatru Samhara Pooja on their colleagues, bosses and rivals, and another set of bureaucrats, trying to undo the effects of the Shatru Samhara Pooja, which they believed had been used on them!

There was another class of bureaucrats busy with nameology and numerology, adding multiple alphabets ‘a’ or ‘r’ to their names. Many others were Feng-Shui addicts, fortifying their room with images of animals, fishes and bamboo plants!

Bureaucrats tend to agree with the view of DH Lawrence that “we need not feel ashamed of flirting with the zodiac. The zodiac is well worth flirting with”.

The writer is Former Director General, Multi-Disciplinary School of Economic Intelligence, and National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.