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........

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