Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.
What I was up to other than here:
- So, I leave Tuesday for Istanbul. Anyone have any tips on favorite restaurants, cafe’s, or little boutiques?
- It’s going to be so cold there- and of course that means again, I have to wear the same ripped black jeans and leather jacket every day since it’s all I have. The president of Turkey is speaking at this thing and I have ripped jeans…. my mom would be so embarrassed! The invite basically said that us bloggers are not the important figures of this event so we can wear whatever we want… we shall see.
- I’ve just finished [easyazon_link identifier=”1476746583″ locale=”US” tag=”Hipinhee-20″]All the Light We Cannot See[/easyazon_link]. It was so good! Someone on Instagram recommended it to me. It was about how two lives collided in German occupied France: a young blind French girl and a German guy who doesn’t quite fit in with the Nazis.
Now your story,
What would you do if a famous future telling monk showed up at your homestay and was willing to tell you your future. He would answer any questions you had. You’re told he’s ALWAYS been right.
I was nervous, but thought yeah I should definitely do this. I decided not to ask any scary questions though.
The monk is called Sange Lama and he’s very well known. He studied alone in the jungle for 9 years. He waited in the home’s prayer room and I came in to have my turn at having my future be read. He gave me a scarf and a little symbol of good luck and safety on the road then asked what I wanted to know.
Sange was there to translate. I asked about my job, if I would ever be a nurse again or if I would keep blogging. He told me it didn’t matter, that I would be successful at both but I could do big things with my website, whereas nursing I would just “do” with no excitement.
He told me that I didn’t have trouble in my life, never had, and never will. That’s basically the best thing a fortune teller and can tell you I suppose. He then told me my parents were sad because someone had died. He knew my grandpa died, and my parents dog shortly after. He said they are dealing with a lot, doing something big that will be done in a couple months. I think he meant selling my grandpa’s house which has been stressful.
We chatted for about 30 minutes. He told me to stop eating mutton and pork. He told me to call my parents and warn them not to go into the forrest because something bad would happen. He said, call them today. I did! My dad and brother skipped deer hunting the next morning because I really felt like this guy knew stuff!
Overall, it was surreal and I was pretty convinced this guy really had some insight! Would you see a fortune teller, one that does it for free, as part of their religion?
Read more about why we saw a fortune teller in this article about Bomdila
This is India!
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in istanbul, just wander around sultanahmet and you’ll find all sorts of amazing cafes and little restaurants in the back lanes — they’re all great, and turkish people are some of the nicest i’ve ever met. and if you’re in taksim square late at night [it’s where all the clubs are], make sure to have a doner kebab at 3am from a cart on the road. you can’t go wrong with doner kebab.
also, all the light we cannot see was my favourite book that i read last year. such a fantastic read, and i’ve been thinking of re-reading it later this year.
have fun in istanbul! can’t wait to read all about it! xx
Thanks for the tips! I probably won’t stay out late since I’m on my own – I tend to go home after dinner when traveling alone :) so maybe lunch time doner kebab!
wow..i want to meet this fortune teller..
Seems like you have inherited the Indian culture. Great post mam! The way you describes things looks like I am reading a Indian blog. Thank you for sharing our culture to the whole world.
Thank you!
Was he a Fortune Teller or Astrologer? I would rather go to a certified astrologer. When I say certified, there are many colleges that provides officially recognized astrology degree/diploma courses. Astrology in India has been an accepted science since ancient times. Many activities in a typical Indian house is planned according to some or the other astrological predictions. It deals with how planetary movements influences your decision making in life. Depending on the predictions, many astrologers can guide you on when to take an action like if you want to switch jobs, buy house etc. However, astrology cannot predict anything very specific, so you have to take it as a guideline. If an astrologer tells you that you are getting divorce next year, I would seriously doubt his/her credentials. He can say that your marriage will have difficult times, but divorce certainly depends on an individual’s decision.
They would need to be pretty good for me to believe it – I don’t normally have much time for this kind of stuff, to be honest – nothing against, it, it’s just not for me. But then if they were really REALLY good… ;)
hah yeah there’s a chick in Goa who is supposed to be really REALLY good so I might try again!
I spent 6 months in India in 1996 and had my palm read despite being an atheist and highly cynical person. :)
This guy told me all kinds of things about my past which were really obscure and non-guessable, it was quite an eye opener.
That’s great! I’m glad you had a good experience with it.