Women astrologers: The new entrants into the male fiefdom

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: A woman sits behind a table with a laptop and a bunch of books and old magazines. A large number of people line up with a set of queries. The woman patiently answers all questions and clarifies doubts ranging from employment to transfer and marriage to divorce.
No major corporate programme in the city is complete these days without an astrologer, mostly women, reading out horoscopes and tarot cards and interpreting individual's zodiacal signs. Big corporate houses are now hiring astrologers to clarify the astrological doubts of their employees as part of their latest efforts to keep them well-informed on what the future stores for them.
Already half a dozen women astrologers and tarot card readers are being regularly invited by corporate houses for their annual or important functions. At the end of a two or three-hour job, they are paid anything upward of Rs 4000. The astrological data is stored in the laptop and the entire prediction is out at the click of the mouse.
"Women astrologers is a new phenomenon in the State. All through the history we find only men astrologers. Now more and more women are taking to astrology, some as profession and many as a hobby. Corporate houses prefer women astrologers and tarot card readers for the simple reason that they do their job with great patience," says senior astrologer JUB Sastry, who has trained more than a dozen women astrologers so far.
With the demand for women astrologers going up in corporate houses and the big pay pack attached to it, more and more women are taking to astrology, tarot card reading and numerology. This is evident from the admissions in the astrology course offered by Potti Sriramulu Telugu University. For the first time as many as 18 women have enrolled for the university course.
Say Kaveri, one of the most sought-after woman astrologer by corporate houses, "I do not find the job difficult. Yes, it is a male bastion. But women have been invading male bastions. So there's nothing wrong if we take to astrology, tarot card reading and numerology. All my clients are happy with the forecast and remedial measures I suggest".
Anuradha Sharada, another woman astrologer, points out that a woman astrologer can do her job better than a man astrologer. "I do tarot reading and numerology too. I have both men and women clients. The subject demands patience and who is at greater patience than a woman," Anuradha observes.
Keeping in view the demand from women, some of the astrological institutes in the city have fine-tuned their courses to suit women candidates. The Parasara Institute of Astrological Studies and Research has designed a three-month astrology course for women.