L.A. India – June 30, 1989
by Pamela Ghosh
As temperatures outside soared to the 100’s, Sunit Kumar Gupta, relaxed, clad in a pastel colored kurta pajama, a black tilak and a russet Rudraksha, settled down for an interview. On a weekday it would be impossible to find Sunit like this. In his busy travel agency, in the heart of Canoga Park, from where he operates, he sits at his computer terminal at the rear of the office.
Even when he was very young he brought about a major transformation in his reading habits. He abandoned the Harold Robbins and the James Hadley Chases for books on astrology, numerology, and palmistry. His stint at Kyokushin (the only full contact Karate) led to his mastery of Zen or an extreme form of breath control, thereby unleashing an intense energy (Chi) within the self, also known as Kundalini in Hindu Shastras.
This was followed by his interest in dowsing, the study of the magnetism emanated by a living person. It was only in 1981 while he was in England that he started practicing professionally. He was quite embittered about his experience with some of his Indian clients. “We have very good contact with the Americans. The problem with the Indians is that they tend to see the dollar in terms of rupees and so whatever I charge them seems too much to them. In my experience I have found them to be quite skeptical. They ask me why I charge $50.00 when all it takes is a look at the computer. What they don’t understand is the hard work involved in developing the computer program. And then there are some people who placed orders over the phone and never came to pick up the predictions I prepared,” he said.
Explaining the computer program Gupta said: “It was entirely developed and produced in India by a team of experts. Since astrology is based on mathematics, the computer program yields 100% accurate horoscopes. I also sell the software to the public.” When asked if he depended entirely on the computer for making predictions, Gupta said, for the average person I used the computer solely, but there are some people who want to know more. I occasionally use other techniques. I even use Samudrik Jyotish which is a combination of palmistry, numerology, dowsing, aura reading, interpretation of birth marks, among others. It is all-encompassing.
I was interested to know in which other ways he was using his powers. “I have helped the police trace missing people. I also practice mundane astrology. It is very interesting as I use it for making accurate predictions on bullion and stock.”
Though Sunit has received no formal training in astrology, he has learned it from many gurus. “I have traveled widely. There is one remarkable distinction in the world of astrology that your readers should know about. That is the difference between western and eastern astrology. In eastern astrology we not only make the predictions, we also try to control some of the happenings of fate through meditation, use of stones or talismans such as ‘maduli’ or ‘tabij’, and ‘rudraksha’. In western astrology there are no such methods. At best they ask you not to leave the house. However, my advice to people who believe in the Karmic cycle is not to provoke anyone to curse them. Curses are very difficult to take care of.”
I asked him about the infamous allegation against astrologers who supposedly have a connection with gem store owners. Candidly he admitted. “All astrologers are afraid of the curse falling on them if they indulge in too much malpractice, but at the same time I have seen people recommend a certain stone to a client despite the fact that he did not need it, succumbing to the demands of the store owner who was permitting him to practice in his store. I can on the other hand recall an incident when the famous Sunderdas Gupta who, instead of compromising and working under pressure, left a certain store in Calcutta where he was being forced to prescribe certain stones. Psychics can never work under pressure,” he concluded.
According to Sunit, Zodiac Horoscopes, which is slowly gaining popularity, is accurate in forecasting health, wealth, profession or business, education, marriage, and children’s problems.