All about life

An old story which keeps knocking my mind now and then. Here it is:


Beliefs are an integral part of human beings. One person’s belief might be a superstition or even a fad in another person’s views. But this does not stop the first person from believing in his beliefs. This often results in a continued quest between the two persons to turn the other one on his side. This objective may be accomplished through reasoning, debate, examples, demos or other means – like divine interventions.

My father believes that relative positions of celestial bodies at our birth and their current positions hold immense power and information about our lives. In simpler words, he believes in astrology. With this belief stems another one. By incorporating small changes in your daily routine, you can though not change your future, but yes make it a bit more favorable towards you. My stand on astrology is very simple – No stand. Neither do I believe it nor do I not believe in it.

I am an engineer plus MBA graduate. Being an over ambitious student since ever, I was eagerly waiting for the placement season to start in the last semester of my MBA course. Top grader throughout academics, CV filled with exciting co-curricular/ extra-curricular activities I had taken up from time to time and good referrals from the faculty, I was all prepared for the placement season. This preparedness would have been well awarded had the companies offered placements. This year was no other than the year of worldwide recession. Motivated to cut costs at all levels to sustain in the bad economic weather, almost all companies gave recruitments and fresh hiring a miss that year. The utopian world I had set up in my mind shattered and that too by a force not in my hands – the devil-like recession. Some companies did visit our campus. But none which were on my list of choice. Friends advised me to not be too hopeful and compromise and take up a job offer from the companies visiting the college before
even they stopped coming. But my heart and mind both were not ready to compromise. I regularly had talks with my parents regarding the same issue – how to get my dream job. Other than the practical solutions like forwarding CV to friends working in good companies, another advice which my father
repetitively gave me was to adopt a small routine which would make the celestial bodies favor me. He advised me to start putting a small haldi (turmeric) tilak every morning. Already in a foul mood and not
ready to take up something I was not very comfortable with, I did not incorporate this. Some days later,news of possible job opportunities at a very good company came. This company was not in my wish list – it was much above that. It was a company I hadn’t dreamed of even in good times. This company was much more than my dreams. With no surprises, all students who hadn’t been placed applied for the company. I too did. Five students were to be finally referred to the company. I was amongst them. My spirits were so down, that I did not expect anything to come out of this. Numerous companies had shown hopes of job before this and this company was just too good to happen.

It had been more than fifteen days, since the CVs were sent to the company and we were yet to hear from them. One morning while getting ready for college, I noticed the small glass bottle filled with turmeric powder and saffron strands, my mom had sent me. With no thoughts or reasoning, I did what my father had told me – I put a small, almost invisible tilak on my forehead. Till date, I do not know why did I take that step.


That afternoon, as usual I came back to my hostel room to change my books for the next set of classes. I heard my mobile ringing. An unknown number flashed on the screen as my ringtone of “Quit playing games” continued ringing. I picked the call and a professional sounding person at the other end confirmed if it was me only speaking. As soon as I confirmed my identity, they introduced themselves. Their introduction shook the floor beneath my feet and sent me into a trance. The call was from the company for a telephonic interview!! They asked me if I was free and ready for the interview. Was I? The interview began and went on for ten minutes. They asked, I answered, we talked. The interview was over, but the affect on me was yet to be over. I quickly called my parents, placement officer and updated them on the latest development. I sat at the edge of my bed in an almost hypnotized state. The only thought that crossed my mind at this point was that wasn’t today the first day I had heeded to my father’s advice and almost a miracle has happened. Was this a mere coincidence or a divine intervention. This dilemma lingered in my mind for the next few days. I continued putting the turmeric tilak for some days, but somehow the routine got lost. It was again 2-3 weeks since the telephonic interview and they had not initiated talks of a second round. Did I not do well in the interview, or was my CV not impressive enough, or had the position been filled through some other candidate. Negative thoughts started penetrating my mind again. Next morning, I reopened the glass bottle containing turmeric, uttered a small prayer in my mind and applied the tilak. However, this time I did it with some better belief than last time. No news came that day. This did not stop me from applying the tilak next day. I did this with some belief (I admit, not full belief) for the next few days and the news came. They had called me for the next round of interviews. I flew to Delhi for the interview. The interviews and written tests went on for a whole day and I had only one thing in mind while answering questions – This is a Do or Die situation. All my efforts and my families’ prayers paid off when I got the call same evening, confirming my job – Yes, they had selected me for the job.

Even today, the dilemma is fresh in my mind. Was it really a divine intervention triggered off by the turmeric tilak, which had turned the celestial bodies in my favor or was it a mere coincidence. Whatever, the truth be, it has altered my views permanently with respect to the impression of celestial bodies on our lives. Though, I am still a little uncomfortable when somebody tries to predict my future by looking at the lines in my hand, or by drawing tarot cards or by adding up the numbers in my birth date, I have started accepting the power of celestial bodies and I would be ever thankful to them for giving me something which I wanted the most – a job better than my dream job!