Approach astrology with real scientific way than fanatic

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Approach astrology with an open mindThe HinduFriday, April 20, 2001Ms. Gayatri Devi Vasudev, Editor, The AstrologicalMagazine, Bangalore writes: This refers to your Science Correspondent's report (April19) about some scientists being unnecessarily worked upover Prof. Hari Gautam's statement that Sir C.V. Raman hadreferred to astrology as science and Prof. S. Ramaseshan,nephew of Sir C.V. Raman, saying that the Nobel laureate''did not believe in astrology at all and considered it anirrational subject.'' I would like to issue a clarificationon both points. With due deference to Sir C.V. Raman's so-called lack ofbelief, one should differentiate opinions from facts. Thescientist was entitled to his personal opinion on astrologyor any other subject under the Sun and it is nobody'sbusiness. That Sir Raman did not believe in astrology, asclaimed by his nephew, is no argument against it if he hadnot made a study of jyotisha systematically. The nephew in question may have been a close associate butthat does not necessarily imply that he was privy to everysingle personal detail of Sir Raman's private life. Nor canthe nephew's statement that the scientist's ''biographypublished by the Indian Academy of Sciences clearlydocumented the fact that he was not at all superstitiousand despised ritual'' be connected with astrology and itsscientific nature. Almost everyone knows that biographiesare many times sanitised versions of the lives of the menthey seek to portray in a particular mould and therefore,many details that may not conform to the portrait they wantto paint, are ruthlessly scissored. Srinivasa Ramanujan's biography published in India hascleverly omitted mention of the mathematician's reverencefor the Goddess of Namakkal how many of formulae wererevealed to him by Her in his dreams. These details arerecounted in detail in his biography published fromEngland. Likewise, Nehru's Letters to His Sister published by Faberand Faber, London, carries his clear instructions forgetting Rajiv Gandhi's horoscope, taking extra care toemphasise that the war time difference should be noted. Butthis same book published by the Publications Division,Government of India, omits the letter dated 29-8-1944, inits anxiety to preserve Nehru's ''secular'' image. It should interest your readers to learn that Mrs. C.V.Raman was a regular visitor of my own revered father, thelate Dr. B.V. Raman, whose name today is synonymous withjyotisha or astrology not only in our own country but theworld over, and would consult him on Sir Raman's chart onhis behalf. I shall quote from Dr. B.V. Raman'sautobiography ''My Experiences in Astrology'', page 315,published by UBS Publishers' Distributors Ltd. when hedescribes how the lady first came to him in the 1930sescorted by Mr. A.S.P. Ayyar, a well-known author, legalluminary and judicial figure of those days. ''I had a surprising experience one day at my office, whichwas situated a few yards away from my residence. A middle-aged person dressed in a three-piece suit, accompanied byan elderly lady walked into my room. The gentleman had adistinguished appearance. Introducing himself the gentlemansaid: 'I am A.S.P. Ayyar, District Judge, Ramnad, and thelady is Mrs. Lokasundari Raman, wife of Sir C.V. Raman. Ihave heard much about you. I am also a reader of yourmagazine and some of the predictions you have made on thewar are amazing. I had my own reservations about astrologyand had often thought that it encouraged inactivity andsapped one's urge to work. The lady has some problemspertaining to her family.' ''Taking leave of me, he said, 'Lokasundari Raman has somedomestic problems and she will see you again shortly.'.'' It was not just once that the lady consulted Dr. B.V. Ramanon the horoscope of her husband. The nephew should be alittle more restrained and check on his facts in future. The statement signed by the scientists demanding that theUGC Chairman must quit for his support to astrology smacksof authoritarianism and feudal thinking. My simplequestion, having been a student of jyotisha for nearly 30years working under Dr. B.V. Raman, to these scientists is:have they studied astrology to be in a position to dismissit? Why have they put their scientific temper to sleep inattacking astrology hysterically, behaving like fanaticfundamentalists instead of approaching the subject with anopen mind? No one who has not studied astrology canarrogate to himself the role of judge, as these''scientists'' of India are doing. It is deplorable and pathetic that these men of ''science''are behaving like the Nazi scientists who brandedEinstein's theories as Jewish physics and made a bonfire ofhis papers simply because their experimental physics couldnot accommodate Einstein's theories of relativity. We canonly paraphrase what Einstein said then: ''were astrologywrong, one professor would have been quite enough!'' http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/04/20/stories/0220000z.htm