By the seashore off the Ennore Expressway in north Chennai is a tiny hamlet called Kili Josiam Nagar, where families of astrologers who claim to foretell the future live. The men match horoscopes or train parrots to pick cards. The women use wands handed down by family elders.
“The power to foretell comes from our Goddess Jakkamma. We also have cowrie shells and palm leaf manuscripts. My mother-in-law gave me this wand when she could no longer practice the profession,” explains Rajasulochana who, like many others here, hails from the Tirunelveli district.
The Marina beach is where these josier s (astrologers) belonging to the Veduvar caste, or Kuravas (distinct from the tribe called Narikuravas), ply their trade on most days till sunset. “Since we cannot see the expressions on the faces of our clients or their palms, and we don’t have a permanent place on the beach, we prefer to wind up by 6 p.m. Otherwise, during temple festivals and fairs, we don’t mind waiting till night,” explained A. Nambi, who lost his parrot to a cat recently.
“I am now looking for a new parrot to be trained and, till that time, I will have to depend on what the wife brings home,” added the fortune-teller from Keezha Munneerpallam in Tirunelveli, whose wife and son too ply the trade. A parrot can be trained in a month to pick cards and to stop when the josier shows his hand asking for a card. They then ‘read’ the images of gods and goddesses inside sleek Rexine covers to proclaim the future in short sentences that suit everyone. The lines usually revolve around longevity, marriage and money.
Land without patta
The residential locality named after them houses about a hundred families, of which the fortune tellers are now in a minority. About 40 years ago, an MLA got them this land, they say, though there is no patta for the residents here since the original owner is long gone.
“Though we live next to a sewage pumping station, we don’t have sewer lines. A lone toilet is what all of us have to depend on. An oil pipeline belonging to the Chennai Petroleum Corporation will shortly be running beneath our village and at least 30 homes and shops would be damaged, but we are yet to receive any compensation,” explained Arun, oor-chettiyar (headman) of the community. There were several women in need of a pension for old age or destitution but there is no response from the powers that be despite applications, he added.
With police taking action against carrying parrots to the Marina beach, their future looks even more uncertain. “Only those from other localities like Red Hills and Ashok Nagar are being permitted to carry on with the profession. The police do not allow us... they keep asking if we have tokens or ID cards. Can you please help us get tokens? We know no other trade,” lamented Thangapandi, a resident.
