BACK TO THE FUTURE

In the town of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, the past, present and future cross paths and coexist.

- Sandip Roy

I stick my right thumb in the violet ink of a Camlin stamp pad. The grey-bearded man takes my thumbprint on a sheet of white paper. I hope I haven't smudged it because that print is supposedly the unique key to unlock the records of my life. A shaky print could catapult me into someone else's life.

The basic premise of Naadi Shastra, the astrological cottage industry of the temple town of Vaitheeswaran Koil in Tamil Nadu, is simple-that records of every human are written in ancient Tamil on taalpatra, or palm leaf scrolls, dating back to the time of the great sage Agastya. Now, many who come to the famous temple town of Kumbakonam, make a side trip to Vaitheeswaran, an hour away, to get their naadi reading done.

The thumbprint is the UID for each person's record. During the British era, the leaves were acquired by the astrologers of the Shiva temple of Vaitheeswaran from the great library of Thanjavur and passed down from generation to generation. Now, Naadi Shastra billboards dot the town next to giant flexes of moustachioed local politicians and maths and science tutorials, all in their own ways promising a brighter future.

But there's a catch.

"Forty percent of the palm leaves were lost," says Suresh Kumar, my taalpatra detective, as we sit facing each other on plastic chairs in a room with the feel of a dentist's clinic. "So, if you are in that bundle it will be very tough."

Luckily my taalpatra pops up as does my colleague Pankaj's through a process that resembles a rapid-fire game of Twenty Questions. Kumar holds up a sheaf of palm leaves and intones, "One of these might be yours, but I don't know which one. Answer only yes/no please.

Are both your parents alive?

Does your father's name have three letters?

Is one of them ka, ga or ma?

No? Ok, this one is not yours."