Astrologer's Day

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Compare & Contrast 1940s: India is still under colonial rule, gaining independence in 1947. 1970s: India has resolved many of its internal and external disputes and taken an active part in the creation of Bangladesh. 1990s: India emerges as a major industrial nation. 1940s: India is predominantly rural with relatively few urban centers. 1970s: India is still a controlled economy but major advances are occurring in the shift to urban life. 1990s: India has become technologically advanced and very urban in its structure. An Astrologer's Day Summary | Detailed Summary The astrologer punctually arrives at his makeshift office, at midday. His office is located under the branches of a tamarind tree in Town Hall Park. It is lighted by the sputtering flare of the vendor next door and the lights of the shops nearby. His office is shared by medicine-sellers, stolen junk vendors, magicians, a noisy cloth seller, and a vendor of fried groundnuts. His office equipment is comprised of a dozen cowrie shells, a piece of cloth painted with obscure mystic charts, a notebook, and a bundle of palmyra writing. His work uniform consists of a saffron-colored turban around his head, beneath which his forehead is painted with sacred ash and vermilion. A dark beard adorns his cheeks and chin. Despite the enigmatic costume, it is his eyes that draw his customers to him, like "bees are attracted to cosmos or dahlia stalks." They sparkle with an abnormal gleam, which the astrologer's customers mistake for a prophetic light. In reality, it is really just the sharp gaze of another vendor looking for customers. The astrologer is nothing more than another vendor, and his wares are not prophecies, but merely a mixture of educated guesswork and a shrewd knowledge of what people want to hear. "He knew no more of what was going to happen to others than he knew what was going to happen to
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