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Why do we need astrologers to run the country?

The most religious lots in the country are our politicians and our business wallahs. For the rest of us, ordinary citizens, we worry more about trying to figure out how to earn enough to pay our kids' school fees on time and make sure that we have enough cooking gas cylinders in stock.

Sher Bahadur Deuba had his 'famous' astrologer on speed dial. The fortune teller had told Deuba he would be our Prime Minister for at least seven times and if it weren't for the Gen Z protest and massacre, Deuba would be in Baluwatar right now.

We have seen our byaparis, who are already very well off in a land where the GDP per capita is less than US$ 1,500, still believe in astrologers more than their accountants. Yes, as per our faith and traditions, we do consult our priests to make sure we start something at an auspicious time.

Balen is expected to take his oath as the Prime Minister of a 'New New Nepal' at 12:34pm on Friday. It is reported that Hindu and Buddhist priests will be there to chant some mantras. It is really none of our business to tell Balen what to do during his oath-taking ceremony. Many of our lawmakers are taking the oath in their mother tongue or some are taking in Sanskrit because they feel that it will win them some brownie points or they do intend to do their PhD on Sanskrit someday and this will be a start to motivate them to be a fluent Sanskrit speaker by the end of their tenure as our lawmaker.

I have seen many high-ranking government officials wearing all kinds of colorful rings and believe in their 'jyotish' whenever it comes to promotions and lucrative postings. But at the end of the day, in most of the cases, you need boras of cash to get that promotion or posting and the alignment of heavenly stars has nothing to do with your career growth where nepotism and money play a big role instead of your merit and knowledge.

Let us just hope that those in power from this weekend will not rely on astrologers and religious gurus to make decisions which will impact our daily lives and the future of this country. Nothing wrong with being religious but as long as those in power think of themselves as guardians and protectors of all faith and people then it will not be much of a problem.

We read about corruption in our newspapers every day. 21 folks have been charged with corruption regarding the international airport in Pokhara. A minister who just left office the other day went on TV talking about how a hakim has to pay 1 Karod to get a posting at some malpot in some district in the country. Where does he or she get that kind of money on Rs 50,000 monthly salary and who gets paid that money?

If the minister is not a corrupt fellow then it is distributed between the senior hakims at the Ministry in Kathmandu. If the Minister wants to transfer an incompetent hakim somewhere else than the senior hakims will call up their paid journalists and provide fake news about how the minister wanted a Rs 3 Karod bribe to stop the transfer. This is how our bureaucracy has been rolling along for the past 3 decades and hope the new RSP government will put a stop to this kind of corruption where the government employees themelves are extorted by the higher-ups for promotions and lucrative postings.

Some people make all their decisions, be it marriage, career choice, or even when choosing their residence, based on what their favorite astrologer tells them. And I have seen many who have been pretty successful following the 'jyotish' advice so far. So, I don't blame these kinds of people because at least some astrologers are making a killing with their advice to the powerful ones.

But if our politicians and sarkari hakims base all their decisions on some fortune teller or jyotish or some foreign or domestic guru then God help us all. Now the question is what if you do not believe in a higher being up there, then what do you do? Well, you just keep on living, making decisions good or bad on what you know and hope it turns out all right.


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