The Indian voter is a quizzical character. No one can really fathom his mind and predict with certainty how he will put his little mark on the little piece of paper and place it in the little box. He can belie the projections of election results by confident and ‘scientific’ pollsters, as evidenced by the present elections.In the 1977 general election, there were no opinion or exit polls. People made their own assessment of the electoral prospects of various candidates depending upon their sources of information in the strict prevailing censorship regime. Even the most ardent opponent of Mrs Gandhi and the Emergency could not have foreseen that the Congress in 1977 would be wiped out in its home state, Uttar Pradesh, and that Indira and Sanjay Gandhi would be defeated. Likewise who could have predicted that Amma’s AIADMK would not secure a single seat in Tamil Nadu?The voter has also falsified various astrologers and their theories. Incidentally, where are those soothsayers and what is their explanation?Astrology & Science Is Astrology a science? This age-long debate figured in our Supreme Court’s recent judgement which repelled the formidable challenge that Vedic Astrology is not a science and cannot be introduced in university curriculum as a scientific subject. It was argued that for a subject to qualify as science, knowledge should be capable of being acquired through the use of scientific methods and should have attributes like verifiability, fallibility and repeatability.Another contention was that the decision to introduce and teach Vedic Astrology as a course for study and award of degrees in universities ran counter to the fundamental duty of the citizen laid down in article 51-A of the Constitution, namely to develop a scientific temper, humanism and spirit of enquiry and reform.The Supreme Court did not authoritatively pronounce upon the status of astrology but rested its decision on the ground that because the question of inclusion of astrology as a subject was considered and examined by an Expert Body of University Grants Commission, it would not be proper for the Court to interfere, especially when no violation of any statutory provisions was demonstrated. What is intriguing and questionable are the observations of the Supreme Court that astrology ‘‘requires study of celestial bodies, of their positions, magnitudes, motions, and distances, etc’’.Astronomy is a pure science. It was studied as a subject in ancient India. ‘‘Since Astrology is partly based upon study of movement of sun, earth, planets and other celestial bodies, it is a study of science at least to some extent’’. It is curious that Webster’s International Dictionary on which reliance was placed describes astrology as a ‘‘pseudo science which claims to foretell the future by studying the supposed influence of the relative positions of the moon, sun and stars on human affairs’’.Encyclopedia Britannica is ambivalent and calls it ‘‘either a science or a pseudo science’’. The debate is endless. People with faith in astrology will cite numerous instances of correct predictions, opponents will point out cases where astrologers had gone haywire, and sceptics, like me, will rest content with Hamlet’s admonition to Horatio, ‘‘there are more things in this universe than are dreamt of in your philosophy’’.Strange CompetitionCountries are understandably proud of their achievements in various fields and acclaim that their trains are the fastest, their buildings are the tallest, their bridges are the biggest and their standards of living are better than in any other country. Similar claims are made regarding the strength of their armed forces. As long as the spirit of jingoism survives, negative comparisons will be made.The first Russian museum of erotica is opening in St Petersburg. It is founded by Igor Knyazkin. He wants Russia to be a civilised country with a view on the future and correct views on erotica. There is one exhibit in the museum of which Knyazkin is especially proud. Believe it or not, it is the organ of Rasputin, the ‘Mad Monk’ of Russia. What on earth could be the motivation? To overtake America, where Napoleon Bonaparte’s penis is now kept. According to the Director of the Museum, ‘‘Napoleon’s penis is but a small ‘pod’. It cannot stand comparison to our organ of 30 centimetres’’. Thank God, Russo-French relations have not been impaired because of such disparaging remarks about the great Emperor.I can understand vying in excellence. But what is incomprehensible is the spirit of competition about the size of the male organ. If thorough research is undertaken it is not unlikely that some of the tall and tough North West Frontier tribesmen can put Rasputin to shame without adversely affecting friendship between Russia and Pakistan. One can only sigh with Oliver Goldsmith that ‘‘logicians have ill defined as rational the human mind’’.
