Reading your future from palm leaves

Meet K R Murugesh, Mumbai’s most popular naadi shastra expert

by Sulekha Nair

DOES your name begin with a syllable ‘Pa’ or does it have three syllables? If your answer is in the negative, then the palm leaf is turned and the exercise is repeated. And then the reader of the palm leaves zeroes in on the correct number of syllables and pronounces your name. You tell yourself that this bloke must have heard someone calling out to you in the hall and so just faked it. Wait. Next, he tells your mother’s name and you are slightly jolted. And then your family tree. That’s when you sit up.

All this cannot be mumbo jumbo. How could he have known all this?

Well, that’s what naadi shastra is all about. It’s the reading of your life, your past, your present and future from well-preserved palm leaves that have stood the test of time. Almost 2,000 years old. Presumably, it was then that seven sages or rishis of India—Agastya, Kaushika, Vyasa, Bohar, Bhrighu, Vasishtha and Valmiki—wrote about the lives of men. Naadi shastra (in Tamil, naadi means ‘in search of’) are palm leaves inscribed with extensive details about the life of the person who approaches the naadi specialist for consultation.

There are thousands of such palm leaves spread all over the country. It is known as naadi grantha in the south and bhrighu samhita in the north. Mr K R Murugesh, a renowned naadi astrologer, who hails from the Vashistha discipline based in Vytheeswaran temple in Tamil Nadu and who reads out the leaves in suburban Santacruz in Mumbai, says that “some naadis give entire life histories of people based on astrological reasoning. In such cases, past and future events go wrong to a small extent. The accuracy of the forecasts depends on the power of rituals performed and the recitation of mantras to satisfy the devata.”

What about accuracy? Mr Murugesh says: ‘It’s around 70 to 80 per cent.’’ The entire exercise begins with one taking an appointment with Mr Murugesh or his cousins, who have now based themselves in Mumbai to practise this art. The patriarchs of his family still practise naadi shastra in Vytheeswaran temple in the south. “But since a lot of our clients were from the western region and we found it quite difficult to manage it, we decided to set up a chapter here, too,” says Mr Murugesh.

The client’s finger print (the left thumb for women and right for men) is taken on a white sheet of paper and the search begins for the palm leaves that match with the configuration of the print. “The traits in each thumb impression are classified into 108 types,” explains Mr Murugesh. The leaves have been arranged according to these types. As in the other disciplines like astrology, there are kandams or 12 chapters in naadi that aid the prediction of one’s future. However, matching the leaves with the thumb impression can be the most painful exercise and this can take a few hours to a few days for the unlucky ones. Once found, the contents of the leaves are sung by the reader in the old Tamil verse, which is then simultaneously translated into the language of the client’s choice. The leaves also depict the planetary positions in the person’s horoscope. And to preserve it for future hearings, the reader also gives the client audio recording of the predictions.

Mr Murugesh imbibed the talent for reading and deciphering the verse from the original with help from his father. “I have been at it for the past 10 years now.” He is a young man in his late 20s. What keeps him going? “It gives me tremendous happiness to see the satisfaction on the face of my clients regarding their various predictions.” In Mumbai, the seekers of this art concentrate mostly on their marriage and career prospects, says Mr Murugesh.

And it’s not as if only Hindus make a beeline for naadi shastra. “You can be a follower of any faith but if you want to know more about yourself, the naadi shastra can help you,” says Mr Murugesh. The practitioners are all male members of the family. Aren’t women encouraged to read the palm leaves? Mr Murugesh ponders for a while before replying. “Actually, I haven’t thought about it. And women in the family have not so far shown any inclination to learn this art.”

(Mr Murugesh can be contacted at (022- 617 1642, 613 6445.)