Faith floats in financial storm

It’s bleak news on the financial front worldwide and as the meltdown spreads to India, businessmen, professionals, and others are turning to the planets for help. The crisis has resulted in long queues outside astrologers, numerologists, vaastu experts and even psychologists’ offices, as well as a sudden upsurge in faith.

Earlier, Shishir Kapoor, MD, MLK Exports, Lucknow, would dismiss the Navratri fast as a “redundant ritual”. But this year he fasted on all nine days. “This slump in the market has shaken me,” says Kapoor. “For the first time in my life I felt the need to rely on a divine power.” His firm, which exports clothing, hosiery, and upholstery to several countries, including Holland and Germany, has suffered a major setback as several orders have been cancelled over the past two months. Another family firm, MLK Securities, headed by his elder brother, has also suffered heavy losses in the stock market crash. “We have lost the urge to celebrate Diwali,” says Kapoor. But his wife Shalini looks at the silver lining. “At least now he has started going to the temple and also does puja at home every morning,” she says with a wry smile.

Kolkata businessman Anindya Dutta too turned to religion for solace: “When my business was facing a slowdown I conducted a Ganesh puja on the advice of my family priest. Whether there was an immediate positive effect or not, I cannot say. But at least I got peace of mind.”

Girjadhar Sharma, mahant at the Sankat Mochan temple in Lucknow, is a bit confused with the new breed of faithful flocking to seek the deity’s blessings. “Over the past few days, I see a lot of young men and women in jeans, trousers and T-shirts coming to offer prayers. These are faces I have never seen before,” he says.

It’s difficult for the priest to figure out the reason for this change as he hasn’t heard of the global meltdown. “Normally, I see only middle-aged or old people at the temple,” Sharma says. “But now it’s different.”

Harsh Giri, a priest at the Mankameshwar Mandir, has seen a similar change in the composition of devotees thronging to the temple, consecrated to Lord Shiva, during Navratri. “When I asked some of them, they told me there was some problem with their jobs,” Giri says.

Bharat Bhushan, an astrologer and vaastu expert in Delhi, says many couples have been coming for help to get over their anxieties in office. “They fear they might lose their jobs and their investments in the share market,” he says.

“Every day I get 10 to 15 clients whose queries are related to the market,” says Umesh Shastri, an astrologer in Jaipur. “They come with horoscopes asking if they should sell out all their shares or wait for some more days.”

Lucknow astrologer Ashok Sharma, whose clientele includes top bureaucrats and politicians, including a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, is having a hard time tackling the growing queries. “Many people, mostly youngsters, are coming with problems caused by the depression in the economy,” he says. “Some have lost their jobs, and in two cases last week, appointment letters were withdrawn before they joined,” says Sharma. The astrologer, a senior government officer himself, says he is trying his best to help, “but things seem to be getting worse every day.”

Jyotishacharya Kandarpbhai Shash-tri, a prominent Ahmedabad astrologer and trustee of the Kashi Vishwanath temple at Shahpur, says: “Most devotees ask us about the stock market. There has been an increase in the number of people visiting the temple of late.”

According to renowned astrologer and palmist Bhabendra Narayan Bhattacharjee from Kolkata, the impact of Saturn has had an automatic meltdown effect on the economy.
“The position of Saturn is higher than the Sun now and hence such things are inevitable,” he says. “Many clients, mostly renowned share market operators, have come to me seeking a solution to the mess. I have noticed that in almost all their cases, the position of the Saturn is unsuitable.”

Nandkishore Jakatdar, president of the Brihan Maharashtra Jyotish Mandal, Pune, told DNA that on an average, at least 25 persons a week from Mumbai and eight stock brokers from Pune seek advice on the stock markets. 

If astrologers are sought after, can numerologists be far behind? “If the sum of a person’s date of birth is 6, we advise him to sell out 600 shares or purchase 6000, whichever is favourable,” says Mukesh Bhardwaj, an astrologer and numerologist from Jaipur.

Worried investors have also started making a beeline for vaastu experts, asking if a change of house would be favourable. “Even during Navratri many were reluctant to buy property due to the crisis,” says Seema Shukla, a vaastu expert in Jaipur.
Ahmedabad-based vaastu expert Jitendra Patel says many of his clients wanted to know in which direction they should place the furniture in their home and office.

Vaastu seems to be especially favoured by Bangaloreans. Shobha N, a consultant at Energised Vaastu Fengshui and Reiki Showroom says at least 15 individuals have sought her services since the economic downturn and job cuts in the US began a month ago.

Tarot reader Shweta Vij says, “There has been a considerable increase in my clientele after the stock markets began a downward spiral. These are mostly businessmen who have been affected by the drop in the market.”

According to doctors, there has been a significant rise in the number of investors complaining of anxiety, suicidal tendencies, and insomnia in the past week.
Psychologists are waking up to a new breed of clients who suffer from downsizing and mergers & acquisitions, which are pushing people, particularly those who are middle aged, to depression.

“Employees of MNCs and BPOs  come with anxiety disorders. Most are middle-level staff wary of losing their jobs,” says G Zaileshia, a clinical psychologist in Kochi.
“Recently, a stock brocker was admitted to hospital with symptoms of cardiac arrest. Later, his illness turned out to be purely psychological. He was anticipating a washout in the markets and that day was particularly bad. We counselled him, but his family eventually forced him to resign. They were tired of his outbursts at home, a fallout of his stressful workplace.”

Tusshar Jagwani, senior psychiatrist at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Jaipur, says, “Several investors who lost huge sums in the share market are complaining of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal tendencies. A tyre wholesaler came to me saying he had tried suicide. He had lost 60% of his assets.”

Pune psychiatrist Rohan Jahagirdar says many “professionals with huge pay packets are worried as they had invested in stocks and real estate, both of which are on the downturn.”

—Gyan Verma in Delhi, Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri in Kolkata, Deepak Gidwani in Lucknow, Nikunj Soni in Ahmedabad, Don Sebastian in Kerala, Bhargavi Kerur & Sentalir S in Bangalore, Ashish Mehta in Jaipur and Daksha Warty in Pune