24 November, 2003
Daler Mehendi, the Punjabi munda who once had the entire nation dancing to his tunes, ’ sade naal raho ge to aish karoge ’ and ‘ chakk de phatte ’ is now dancing to a different tune, caught in a cop-wrangle. A sad story for Punjab de puttar , accused of cheating people by taking them to foreign lands in his dance troupe and allegedly leaving them there without passports.

I had the occasion to meet Daler about 2 years back in Pune where he was performing at the Royal Western India Turf Club. After the hit show, I sent my card across expressing my desire to meet him; he promptly agreed and called me backstage.

It was a wonderful 30 minute session. It was around 11 at night and he was busy signing autographs for some close friends. Wearing a green turban with silver streaks and shining costume he looked like a perfect entertainer or magician, reminded me of PC Sorcar doing his famous magic shows. The moment our eyes met – he was seated on a sofa and I was at the entrance to the hall – he said, ‘ aao bhaiji ’. In a single greeting he had broken the barriers of unfamiliarity; his simplicity was too genuine to doubt.

We got down to the act. I said that your voice has an energy pitch that very few can match and told him straight out that he had the capacity to unconsciously awaken kundalini shakti (the serpent power) if he practiced sufi or religious songs and not the pop-bhangra that had made him so famous.

He looked seriously at me as if I was telling him things he had known and was only seeking affirmation for his belief in my words. And I said,” Dalerji, I am serious, this is a hidden talent in you; it can be awakened easily’’.

Studying his hands (since he did not know his date of birth), I noticed that his fate-line stopped abruptly just before the heart line or rather the heart line stopped abruptly before the fate line. Now this is a sinister omen. Naturally, I turned serious. He noticed that I was suddenly quiet, so he broke the uncomfortable silence by asking, ’what do you think about my future?’’

Here was a successful man at his peak who had asked me a question that indicated doubts about the future, fears about his tomorrow. Did he have a premonition of things to come?
The Predictions

The Predictions

I paused and said, ’’Dalerjee, you have reached your peak. I would advise you to keep all your money and savings carefully and invest them properly.” He said that he had plans of expanding his studio business and asked what lay in store for that business.

My Warning In Vain, I was plain in my warning,’’ Dalerjee, you should not do any business with your near and dear ones or close relatives, as you will be brought to serious grief by them’’.

He seemed perturbed and I did not want to spoil his evening. So I changed the topic and advised him to wear a nice turquoise turban, a Persian one, as it would help him. He gave me his card – it belonged to his brother. We’ll keep in touch, he said.

But we couldn’t meet or talk again, and when I saw the turn of events that led to his being implicated in the case along with his brother, I knew that the die had been cast.

And now I put down my head yet again to think, ‘’is it really possible to cheat fate?’’ the answer is probably No. The karmic rewards or punishments that are due to our past deeds have to be paid.

Whatever the law agencies would say, very few would know that the real Daler could not have cheated, his lines do not say so.

Had he been a smart cheat, he’d have had crooked little finger (mercury), forked head lines or head line curving upwards with overdeveloped Mars and a deformed thumb. None of these were present – except the heart line that stopped the fate line – and if I were to pass a verdict on his hands, I would declare him innocent, but the law sees with the eyes of the present, and so, he might perhaps have to pay the price.

	Consult Anupam Kapil
	Email this Article to your friend

©Anupam V Kapil