The Faith of Ashish by Kay Marshall Strom

Author:Kay Marshall Strom
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Book 1 of the Bless ings of India Series
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2011-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

The fortune-teller was a slight man with a bent back and a mop of unruly black hair. With gnarled hands, he prepared a jatak for Sethu. A horoscope. Carefully he laid out the position of the twelve zodiac signs and printed them. He did the same for the positions of all the planets. After that he added the seven chakras. For a long time, he gazed at his notations and chanted mantras over them. He sought to determine the present effects of all the influences on Sethu. That done, he set about making calculations for the future. Finally the fortune-teller laid down his pen and gazed at Sethu.

"Well?" Sethu demanded.

"You ask about your baby," the fortune-teller said. "It will be a girl."

"No!" Sethu cried. "It cannot be!"

"It is so. The jatak does not lie." Sethu, her face set like stone, stood up abruptly and prepared to leave.

"But it does not have to be so," the fortune-teller added.

"What do you mean?"

"The planets are like gods. To change the future, you must do pujas and chant mantras in order to pacify them. Also, I can sell you charms with the power to ward off the curse under which you are currently living."

Sethu sat back down. The fortune-teller eyed the carved bracelet on her arm, her last possession of any value. Sethu slipped it off and handed it to him. In return, the fortune-teller gave her two charms: a bag of dried herbs—"Wear it around your neck day and night"— and a bracelet woven of human hair—"This you are to wear on the wrist of your right hand, also day and night."

"Now my baby will be a boy?"

"It will be a boy," the fortune-teller assured her. "I have removed the curse of the girl child from you."

In her elation, Sethu pointed to Latha and exclaimed, "My friend here already has a son. She needs your help too."

"It it your own fortune you want read or your son's fortune?" the fortune-teller asked Latha.

Latha shot quick glances around her. She leaned in close and whispered, "I need to know one thing only. My son, Ashish. What will happen to him if we stay here?"

The fortune-teller didn't bother to prepare a jatak for Latha. He simply asked the date and place of her son's birth, and nothing more. "Why did you give him the name Ashish?" he asked. "Why didn't you name him for a god? Shiva, who could conquer evil demons, or Ganesh, who removes all obstacles, perhaps?"

Latha stared into the blank eyes of the fortune-teller and said nothing.

"Your son has a bad planet in his place of work and wealth," the fortune-teller said. "He cannot learn. He will not prosper in life."

Latha gasped.

"Your son is not a blessing," the fortune-teller said. "He is of no worth at all. Stay where you are and work, for if you leave you will all die. Your family is under a very strong curse and I can do nothing to lift it."

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