An astrologer’s prediction on me!

There is a practice among Keralite Hindus to write the “jaathakam” (horoscope)  of a child, as soon as its born. When I was born, my dad tried to do the same. But the astrologer told him that this girl might wont live after 12 yrs. (that was a bit nasty info, na?) . He told my dad “ If she is alive after her 12 th birthday, then, come to me, I will write her “jaathakam” then”. Now I wonder whether that was a nice thing to say to the father of a newborn child??? I don’t know. Anyway the result was this, even at this 28 th age, my “jaathakam” remains unwritten. My father is strictly against it being written. Yesterday I heard amma asking him, “Can we write her “jaathakam”, at least now?” But he said “No, never”. If you ask me, I also support him, whole-heartedly!

 

That astrologer told one more thing that I had born with bad luck to my dad. And that, till 12 yrs, I may have to spend most of the time in hospitals. I think that made dad a little paranoid. So every Sunday we had to go to our nearby Devi Temple, and do “poojas” against the ill-luck that I had brought with me to my dad(???). I don’t know how far its true, cos as far as I can remember, there wasn’t any ill-luck to my dad, after my birth.

 

But there was one true phase in this, entire “jathakam” thing. Till 12 yrs of age, I spent most of my time (and so, my dad’s time) in different hospitals. Till I was 6, I had a very allergic stomach, which rejected milk in any forms, and made me friends with IV tubes! When I was 6 , I used  to have very wet and loud hollow coughs, which made my dad take me to Tuberculosis Center. I remember my mom, praying hard, just before she was going to get the reports. Any way, I came clean, out of those reports.

 

Next thing that happened was when I was 8. I suddenly began to have severe and frequent attacks of Asthma. My mom and my achachan (mom’s dad) had Asthma. But only I had this, in the third generation. As Inhalers weren’t very common then (1980’s), asthma attacks made me think, I was going to die. I would say it’s the worst disease cos it causes suffocation to the patient as well as the onlookers. Then I realized uninterrupted breathing was a privilege. Again I was taken to hospital.  This time doc told me, I had to take an injection every alternate day for 3 months continuously. And do u know, how much I feared a syringe!!! (I was 8yrs then!)

 

I loved to play in the sun, swinging in coconut leaves, like Tarzan. As I couldn’t reach to get hold of the tip of coconut leaves from ground, I would put a stool, and then climb on it, get hold of the coconut leaf and then “whooooosh”---I would be on the other end!! WOW that was a great feeling!!!! It mad me really feel like “Tarzan”. And this would go on repeating! I would have done this, even now, if I could find a coconut leaf that can withstand my current body weight! LOL. I was strictly prevented from doing this, cos during those “Tarzan nights” I will have severe attacks of Asthma. But will an 8 yr old care? I still did my swinging, hiding away from mom…

 

But this alternate injection news made me seriously think about running away from home or to kill my doctor, at least. (Still I didn’t know how, to do that! LOL). My dad bribed me with comics, chocolates, (but, ice-cream was against Asthma!) on each single trip to Hospital. If Monday they pierced my left arm, on Wednesday they did it on my right arm, on Saturday it was my left arm again… after one month, the pain on my both arms became permanent. Soon my right arm began to swell. At first mom thot it was because of constant injection. But swelling increased so much and soon, I was back in my second home  (Hospital, of course). Now I remember that day well, cos the doctor asked me and mom to go out, and told something to dad. Later dad came out and told something to mom, and she began to cry…I was busy watching the goldfish tank there!

Later I heard mom telling achachan that during my continuous injection series, once the injection, which was supposed to be had on muscle, was given to a vein, which made the vein infected, and which would have paralyzed my right hand. (a nurse’s fault!). I thot..WOW now that make me stop going thru this hell again (thanks to that nurse!). But soon a date was fixed for my operation and those docs tore open my swelled arm…?(how I hate them!!). After being discharged from hospital, I didn’t go to school for 1 month and my mom used to copy notes for me and read it to me…

Later my injections continued (this time, from another hospital). Some how Asthma never came back (till now) after that grueling 3 mths of alternate injection days…

Mysteriously I became perfectly healthy, after 13 yrs…I gained weight and none of my allergic stomach, old coughs, asthma, came again!  Sometimes I think that the astrologer was right…may be that is why my father still wont go to astrologers…he says “Sometimes ignorance about future, makes present peaceful”.

 

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