All in the stars?

 

Astrology, some people say, is pure science. For the others, it is a money minting business. I do not really know what it is. What I do know is that I want to stay away from it. And I have always made a conscious effort to keep myself away from any kind of fortune tellers. But not everybody is same.

One of my friends consulted an astrologer yesterday. Let me give you a little background about her first. She is a strong, independent, witty, intelligent, compassionate person. The only mistake she made in her life was falling in love with a narcissist. So now, even after a decade of marriage and two kids, she seldom gets any peace as far as her marital life is concerned. I have seen her breaking down completely, crying inconsolably, contemplating ending her life- and then putting herself together, with new determination, to make things better. The cycle is never ending. It breaks my heart to see her like this. I often ask her why she tolerates all this? Why doesn’t she take a stand and get separated? Every single time, her response is – “you think I have not given this a serious thought? Let’s be practical. I have two kids and no matter what a shitty husband he is, I know for sure he is a wonderful dad. And he earns 10 times more than I do. What kind of life will I be able to provide to kids if I separate?” Honestly, I do not know the answer. I believe mental health very important, more important than physical health. Because if you are mentally strong and clear, everything else in life will automatically take care. I do not know what to tell her, she is strong but when it comes to her marital life, it is a different story.

Now, something happened between the husband wife a few days back and my friend got so disturbed that she consulted an astrologer. Apparently, the astrologer is quite renowned and does not charge any money for answering questions. This person told my friend that her husband’s planetary position is not good. Things will become worse and there are strong indications that he will have an extra marital affair too. He further suggested that the only way to reduce the effect of these planetary positions is to get some rituals performed and the cost of that will be 11k. My friend told me all this when I called her. No points for guessing that she was crying bitterly. I can understand her crying, her feeling of helplessness, when it comes to that rotten fellow, she calls her husband. What I do not understand is how she could believe an astrologer! Her married life has never been rosy, things have always been swinging from bad to worse and to bad again. As far as cheating your spouse is concerned, it is a choice, not some goddamn planetary position. And that narcissist animal will actually blame her for his infidelity too, if that happens.

Oh God! This makes me so angry! And again I look for a happy place and I find it in my friend’s endurance, her kids’ smile, in the warmth and love of my kids and in the knowledge that if it ever comes to that, I would not attribute my circumstances to any planet, ever.