Celestial shine on names equals success?

No, no not that Kareena Kapoor has changed her name (she's done that before but is back to her original spelling now). These are some suggestions that she was offered by different numerologists to bring her luck and success. The famous Jumaanis advised her to call herself Kareina; another numerologist Niraj Manchanda thinks that adding 'R' or 'B' would bring her luck.

Pure madness, is it? Nopes, there is a method in it, say soothsayers. It is a person's faith in numerology, they add. How else would you justify Sunil Shetty calling himself Suneil Shetty and Vivek Oberoi declaring himself as Viveik Anand Oberoi, while hapless scribes go mad trying to keep up with the latest changed spellings of names.

Businessmen, politicians, film stars, models, ad-men, TV actors and singers lead the tribe of 'star' struck junta.

Renowned numerologist Anupam Kapil puts it simply as "going to any length to save their celeb status." He further explains, "High profile people live under a lot of pressure. They have to be visible always and every where and they have to maintain a hold on their respective loyalists, so the various permuations and combinations to ensure that they maintain that edge over competitors with some starry support."

Mumbai-based numero expert Larra Shah also feels the same. "These people face tremendous peer pressure. They just want to be safe on every aspect. This is what guides them to seek celestial guidance. Also, some people have a spiritual bend of mind so it is natural for them to seek "starry" help".

Kapil says that a lot of his celebrity clients come to him for consultation on every small, little matters. People ask questions like should I sign this film, what particular colour is good for me, should I buy a car that bears this number or should I shift to a flat that has that number?

Starry Tantrums

But how do these astrologers deal with the star nakhras? "What tantrums. They hardly throw any tantrums. Instead they come across as verysensitive and very grounded human beings who look forward to some guidance," says Sanjay B Jumaani. Larra has the same opinion. "I tell myclientele point blank that they should not hide anything from a doctor, a lawyer and a astorloger,'' she says. Larra says that most of these starsapproach them for guidance because of their belief in astrology or other such sciences. Under such circumstances, there is no question ofthrowing a "tantrum". Lucky astrologers, we say.

"The relationship between an astrologer and a star is similar to that of a patient and doctor. If a person has faith in you than it is your responsibility to live up to that promise," says Anupam. He counts people like Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Chandra Swami, PC Sorcar, Viveik Oberoi, Suresh Oberoi, Balram Jakhar, Tanushree Jutta in his list of clients.

Help me...

How many stars follow what is recommended to them. "Most of them follow what is told to them," says Dr Prem Kumar Sharma. His clientsinclude biggies from Bollywood and politics. Captain Amrinder Singh, the chief minister of Punjab, is a "close friend" of Dr Sharma. He says dealing with celebrities is not as difficult as it seems. They listen carefully to what is told to them and follow the remedies with utmost faith," says Sharma.

Negative News

Stars don't always foretell positive things, then how do astrologers package negative news for their high-profile clients. "It is not at all difficult. Itell my clients upright whatever I foresee. It may be positive or negative. There is no point diluting the predictions," feels Sanjay B Jumaani.

Larra is however polite and diplomatic in her unsavoury revelations. "I can't obviously lie but I'll just tell them that they should focus on some other things instead. Like there was this actor who wanted me to see his future in Bollywood. I didn't see any bright chance s for him - unfortunate for that guy. Instead I saw that he could do really good in finance or financial services. I told him that he should focus more on his dad's business and less on Bollywood." Larra has an impressive client list comprising of Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Smita Thackeray and the likes. "Zeenat Aman and Smita have come across as the most genuine people," she says.

As long as the starry shine from heavens continues to make our earthly stars twinkle bright whose complaining, except perhaps the journos who have to face the music from their editors when the spelling which was Viveik yesterday has changed to Viviek today and they are late in putting the updated names in their copies.