A Palm Reader Tells Me lots of Stuff

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Mary told me she met the palm reader when he was doing some masonry work for her. He told her he had read all the Sherlock Holmes stories, translated into Malayalam. He said he knew palmistry, numerology, and Reiki. She was very intrigued, and he did a short reading for her. Hence on her accommodation listing she mentioned the opportunity to see the palm reader.

I had forgotten he was coming that afternoon. I was very weary after an Ayurvedic treatment, and was just settling down for a snooze on my bed. The doorbell rang, and I thought, oh nuts, who is that? Biji, my surrogate mom-chef from next door was standing there.

“Palm reader,” she said.

And there he/they were, a short palm reader man and a towering man named Mr. Smart, wearing a lilac colored shirt. I tried to act as if I was eagerly awaiting their arrival, when all I wanted to do was sleep. This won’t take long, I thought.

Mr. VK Gangadharan is 45 years old, a bachelor, and first became interested in palmistry in 2002 when someone gave him a book. He studied a lot, discovered many of his observations were accurate as he applied his knowledge, and thus he pursued his interests.

Mr. Smart, a soft-spoken, thoughtful man, told me he encountered Gangadharan years ago, when he made a specific prediction for him that would later come true in his life.

“This man is a genius, I thought,” Mr. Smart gushed. The prediction had to do with his career. Mr. Smart studied to be an oceanographer. Gangadharan predicted he would not pursue that career, but instead would study the atmosphere of another planet.

Turns out, Mr. Smart, who holds a PhD degree, today is working at the University of Cochin, doing research on how the atmosphere on Jupiter’s moons formed. He couldn’t believe that the prediction had come true either. But his friend Gangadharan used his skills with palmistry and numerology to make that prediction.

About that time I was thinking this is really outlandish. There’s no way someone can make such a specific prediction and have it come true. What’s going on here?

But I did not stop the session.

We should proceed, I said, and I even offered to do a tarot card reading for the palm reader once we finished. A barter of sorts. He was very interested. I had packed my mini-deck of cards for such occasions, and I thought oh goody, I can practice my nascent skills on someone.

We retreated inside the house to a table and chairs, where Gangadharan was all business. He examined the palm of my left hand, turning it this way and that, and spoke in Malayalam while Mr. Smart translated.

“You like to travel. It’s like a passion for you.”

That was the first thing he said. I’ve written, several times in several places, that travel is my passion—on blogs, in blurbs about myself. My astrologer (okay, I’m interested in a lot of alternative stuff) pointed out I’m a double Sagittarius, which means that travel is something I absolutely have to do.

So these guys must have read one of my blurbs somehow, somewhere.

“Travel is a never ending process for you. You will keep traveling as long as your health permits. You get restless unless you’re traveling.”

Yep, yep, yep. “

And your mind is filled with optimism, no matter what is going on around you.”

Yep, yep, yep. I’ve often described myself as being an optimist.

“You think about life a lot more than others do. And sometimes you find it difficult to reach a decision. You look at both sides, good and bad, and you analyze and take a long time to decide.”

Yep, yep, yep. That’s part of my wanting to be perfect syndrome. I’m not one to plunge into something without doing research and having a lot of information. That’s why it took me three years to build my small house. And two years to plan it. Should I put a nail there or here? And that light fixture—is it the right color, correct placement? And I’ll run the wire over there and up the wall there, or maybe over there, but if I do that, then I might have a problem....and on and on.

“Wherever you travel, you retain a commitment to your country and your religion, even though you listen to others and observe them.”

No, not so much. I’m more of a globalist. Sure, I’m glad I’m a US citizen, but I’m not so patriotic, don’t wave a flag, I’m not so fond of saying the pledge of allegiance. And I’m not religious. Spiritual, but not religious.

Mr. Smart then said he probably used the wrong word about the religion thing. The point is, I am confident in my spiritual beliefs, and even though I listen to others and consider their beliefs, I am comfortable in mine.

Yeah, that’s better, I’m not going to suddenly pledge myself to a religion, or join a cult, or start practicing something new unless it is in line with my beliefs.

“And your career has to do with public education—with explaining more technical or scientific information to the public in a way they can understand. Your lines clearly indicate this.”

Now wait a second. He could see that in my palm? Because that was very true. Very true. I wasn’t a teacher when I was working, but I was in public education, and I thoroughly enjoyed helping the general public look at more complicated archeological or historical information, making stories out of it so people could relate.

I even mentioned that I was in public education on my profile for the accommodation here. Hey wait a minute, did they read my profile?

But he kept going, and he kept saying things I agreed with. And things I really like about myself. Things I never wrote anywhere. Things about my character, my core beliefs, what makes me tick. A lot about traveling, how I look at things in a different way while traveling, how when I encounter others I can discover things other travelers usually don’t, how I like to unleash my creativity through traveling.

Well, yeah. Hence this blog. But also, traveling itself for me has been a creative process. Just stepping out the door in the morning when I’m traveling begins an expansive, beautiful unfolding where I create the happenings, the meetings, the events that go on around me. I am alive and joyful when I travel, especially in India.

And speaking of India...he had more to say about that later.

He moved on to using numerology and told me to write my birthdate. Then he pulled out of his pocket a folded piece of paper with random looking numbers written all over it. After studying it for some time, he stated that sometimes I get a rash that would appear and disappear. I’m not going to go into details about my rash that comes and goes, but suffice it to say that yes, that’s true. So I’m thinking, what percentage of the population has a rash that comes and goes? Maybe 50%???

Mr. Smart’s tone was very quiet and compassionate-sounding when he talked about my rash. He may have been embarrassed.

He reviewed lucky numbers (8), colors (dark, black), day (Saturday), and other specific things. And he noted this was my 7th trip to India, the next would be 8. Given all he had seen, he predicted I would be entering a golden period, especially during my 8th trip to India (assuming it will happen.) Manifold success. Something big.

Yeah, I like that. (He had me hooked by now.)

He then did Reiki on me as we sat in the chairs, touching my forehead, remaining silent for 15 minutes. He told me to take a selfie before and after to see the difference. I examined the photos, but could tell little difference.

And about India. He had the image of a past life in India, when Ganapati (Ganesha, the elephant-headed God and son of Shiva) was my favorite god. Had an elephant come to me in my dreams recently?

No, I explained, but elephants had come to me in person. I said I had talked to one in the place where I had been just a week ago. I chased after him as his handlers took him to the river and gave him a bath. That elephant even grunted at me the morning I talked to him as he was chained to a tree, awaiting his deity duties for the upcoming festival.

Both Mr. Smart and Gangadharan were very interested in my elephant photos, which for them confirmed his observation of my connection to Ganesha in a previous lifetime.

“You must pray to Ganapati. He is the remover of obstacles, and he will help you in your writing.”

Alrighty then. I can look at Ganapati/Ganesha as a helper deity, (that would not run counter to my spiritual beliefs,) and ask him to remove obstacles. That’s easy.

I’ve got little images of Ganesha all over my house, and tons of photographs...hey, wait a minute, why am I so drawn to Ganesha?

We were finished with the palm reading, and now he wanted a tarot card reading. We had been talking for over 2 1/2 hours, and I was exhausted. I should have been taking a nap during that time. I urged him to make an appointment with me, so I could do a proper reading, when I was fresh.

He looked at my mini tarot cards and started pulling cards, and when I told him the general meaning, he and Mr. Smart exchanged knowing looks.

I’m expecting a call from him, and look forward to using tarot to help him understand his questions better. I get the feeling that whatever I say will in some way be meaningful.

As for my palm reading, I checked with Mary. She hadn’t told them my name or my country or anything about me before he came to read my palm.

Okay, okay, I believe now—I believe something, anyway. A couple days after the reading when in my head I asked for Ganapati to come, there he was, big and jiggly with that pot belly of his, big and powerful, big and godlike.

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