The Nadi Leaf Chronicles Chapter 4

A small...irony, is perhaps the wrong word. Yesterday at my internship school, special guests came in and we studied leaves and made leaf animals. And this morning, an Indian astrologer in Bangalore looked through a bunch of old palm leaves with writing on them, looking for one that had my name and my parents names on it.

You'd think that they could have organized it alphabetically... rather than by thumbprint. Or at least alphabetically within thumbprint.

So, for those following along at home, you may recall I already had one session, where this guy went through a bundle of leaves (it's not quite as extravagant and old-fashioned looking as giant banana leaves being slung around. I think I described it in a previous post. Here, some pictures from the internet:



Anyways, he went through the whole bundle and didn't find one that matched me, so he said he'd send off for a few more bundles and get back to me when they arrived. I had to contact him, but his current secretary is way more responsive than his old one, so we got an appointment set up quickly. Within a week, I think. Waaaay better.

Anyways, I got up early, 5:30 am, (Indian time difference means it's going to happen at awkward times) and set up my computer in the bathroom as it was the only room that wouldn't be bothering my housemate that early in the morning. He proceeded to read through the bundle, again, not finding anything close to a match. He told me he'd call back in fifteen minutes or so (which meant somewhere around 35 minutes. But hey, as long as he actually calls me back, I'm good. Though I did call them again after 30 minutes to check in on how they were doing/make sure they hadn't forgotten about me like the first time.)

He came back with yet another stack, and we did the whole process over again. Nothing. I was prepared for this outcome. He said, he's getting some more leaves around December, so he'd send me an email to make an appointment before December 25th. And if we didn't find anything by then, I was supposed to wait for a year before trying again. I will, of course, set a calendar reminder, to remind him, in a few weeks, in case he forgets to contact me.

At this point though, it does seem that the forgetting is benevolent, not an intentional slight. I'm also becoming increasingly strong in my belief that this is not cold reading. I've recorded our sessions so I can look back at them to analyze, but I'm not sure it's necessary. If this is cold reading it's the most inept and inefficient cold reading I've ever seen or heard off. If I was cold-reading, I'd do it in one session and get them out of my hair, or coming back to pay for another session. The guy doesn't seem to even be keeping track of my answers. He keeps asking if I'm in the medical field, or my parent's names start with certain letters. But not different letters, the same letters. To all intents and purposes, it really does look like he's reading from the leaves. And he doesn't really follow up on things that are kinda similar, but not right on. And he's spent quite a lot of time on me. We were going until, what, 7 something? Over an hour. So, if we ever do find a leaf that is a good match, I'm pretty confident that it will actually be because the leaf is a good match, not just him making up stuff.

Whether I actually have such a leaf, under my thumbprint, in his collection, to be found, is another matter entirely. I remain resolute in my self-protective pessimism. But I will keep looking, dear readers.

End of current installment, in "Adventures in Disappointment" By Isaac Nevas and Univers.