Numerologists, tarot readers popular with Gen Next

The new-age soothsayers are popular with the young with a desire to get ahead fast in life.

“People come to correct their names so that they vibrate with positive vibes for good luck”, says Mancchanda.

Come marriage season and event he educated and the illiterate make a beeline to astrologers seeking their advice.

“Young people want it both ways; they want to marry the person they love yet not have any problems. So they come to consult me, so that there are no problems in the future,” said Prem Sharma, a popular astrologer.

A visit to a palmist, numerologist, tarot card reader or astrologer has become quite a fashion statement now-a-days.

It has become quite a thing to have theme parties or a tarot reader in a party, says Nandita, 23, a Public Relations executive.

“My friend a top government official is going through a bad phase in her married life, she consulted a tarot reader whom she claims told her every thing correctly,” says Kabita

“This has always been there for centuries in India, it is much more widely accepted because of insecurity and unsurety in the modern world. Any individual cannot survive in a condition of ambiguity,” says senior consultant, Fortis hospital Clinical Psychologist Vandana Prakash.

The customer graph varies, “We get clients from businessmen, investors, housewives to companies everyone comes for enhancement, says Mancchanda.

“We get more number of men, for their business prospects. But both men and women come. Everyone needs success in business and work”, he adds.

When asked about the spurt in the trend the numerologist says,” The trend has definitely increased in the recent years. This has increased due to the awareness among people.”

“Anything new starts with negativity, and initially people laughed at the concept but the trend has changed when they saw the success associated with this,” he says, alluding to the K serials and adding of extra alphabets in ones name.

There has been an increase in the awareness among the youth the increase in trend is also because of increasing exposure in television and newspapers.

“We get questions from all sections, parents and young couple themselves comes for consultation. Queries about share market and real estate have increased after recent financial crisis,” says Sharma.

“Women, housewives and working generally have queries about their husbands and children,” he adds.

The fees charged range from 3,300 for an individual and can go up to a steep 25 lakh for naming a big construction project, says Mancchanda.

While a single query to the astrologer costs Rs 2100, finding your marriage compatibility can empty your pockets of Rs 3100 and hour of phone consultation can cost as much as Rs 11,000.

Naming a film can cost the producer 10 lakhs says Mancchanda who has helped named films like ‘Krrish,’ ‘Hey Baby’ and ‘Kambakkth Ishq.’