Vedic astrology: Meet the man who calculates your tomorrow

Since the age of 12, 74-year-old Sushil Chaturvedi claims he has had a fan following of politicians, industrialists and sports stars for accuracy of his predictions of their kundalis (horoscopes). Leading publications, he reminisces, have published his bang-on verdicts, and his column 'Astrofocus' for the Illustrated Weekly would receive almost 50 fan mails a day.

Examples of the rabbits he's pulled out over the years, as unreal as they might sound, are many, few of them also recognised worldwide: Predicting that Lady Diana and Prince Charles' will inevitably seek divorce. Stating nine months prior to the US elections that Bill Clinton, despite the Lewinsky scandal, would defeat George Bush and hold office for two terms. Clinton, impressed by Chaturvedi's forecast, invited him to the inaugural. On home turf, he had a lot to say about the Gandhis. That Sonia Gandhi won't become Prime Minister (PM). Rajiv Gandhi will become PM because of his hereditary puniyas (good deeds) but his future was not visible beyond latter '91. Priyanka Gandhi will never join politics. And despite LK Advani marching from Sarnath to Ayodhya in hopes it made him popular to assume the PM's role, Chaturvedi foresaw Atal Bihari Vajpayee occupying the seat. Also, India would win the '83 World Cup.

Born into a zamindari family, the Agra-bred Mumbai based vedic astrologer claims to have read over two lakh astrological charts. The genesis of his profession seems like a piece from 1001 Arabian Nights: While armed with academic credentials (Bachelor's degree in electronic engineering, professorship at the Birla College of Science and a Masters in Business Management from London University college) it was a visit to the Bhrigu Rishi Nadi Jothidam in Hoshiarpur 1978 that cemented his permanent career path in vedic astrology. His telling of the narrative seems like one fantastical story. "It came out in those scripts that I belonged to the rajwada (birth line) of Lord Rama, lived in Ayodhya in my previous birth, did penance with Bhrigu Rishi in the Himalayas for 14 years. He told me, via the readings, that for this puniya, he will give me the power of uch yog after I do penance," says the short, stocky, soft spoken balding man in a simple kurta at his no frills apartment at Powai. "For 22 auspicious nights — Holi, Dussehra, Janmashtami, Diwali and the two Navratris — for the next three years, I would recite mantras the whole night and gulp down certain medicinal potions while looking at the Pole Star. Like a madman, I even toured the Himalayas, visiting all the devi shrines." The penance, Chaturvedi says, paid off and now he claims to have the foresight and ability to read a person like an X-ray. "I'm on a mission to show the sad and the wayward the way," he explains.

Chaturvedi says he finds the moon signs more accurate than the sun signs because they offer more markers to define a person. Matching kundalis the conventional way of checking whether the couple share 36 gunas (good points) is what he doesn't agree with. "I don't agree with Muni Vashisht's type of matchmaking as he has done for Rama and Sita. "The day after they married, Rama was banished into 14 years of vanvas (forest life). Sita was kidnapped, then asked to take the agni pariksha after Rama suspected her of being tainted by Ravana. They didn't enjoy their married life. For me, love from the moon, action from Mars and passion from Venus, whether in a love or arranged marriage, are more vital. Absence of either celestial body in your charts will see the marriage flop," says Chaturvedi. His own marriage has lasted for 47 years, despite being riddled "with fights and the occasional cold shoulder".

Along his foretelling via kundalis, Chaturvedi also practices dousing, aided with a customised talisman – six Rudraksha beads sourced worldwide and bunched up for the unique number of 'faces' or shapes. When this talisman is placed over the area of question, it either moves clockwise to signal good influence of a planet or anticlockwise to suggest weakness. For instance, if the moon 'area' on your right palm receives an anti-clockwise spin, your love life will need a boost with a pearl ring. Also, to weed out closeted frenemies, he asks you to list the names of people on a sheet and douses each one.

On a parting note, Chaturvedi advises, "If the road is bad, even with the best car the ride won't be smooth. If the road is smooth, you can pass the worst days of your life in the best way. My remedies make you strong to absorb the blow/s." If you are really lucky, Chaturvedi might further enchant you with a Rafi song.