SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE

Starlet turns stargazer

Komilla Sutton Komila Sutton or as old timers would recall Komilla Virk, was an actress introduced by Dev Anand in the seventies. She could never make it to the big league as an actress. A former, Miss Bombay and a well-known model, she also acted in regional cinema be it Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada etc. Komilla worked with many directors in Bollywood after being introduced in Ishq Ishq Ishq by Dev Anand. What is most surprising is the direction this 1953 born gave her life. A topper in high school from Modern School Delhi, she graduated with economics honours from Lady Sriram College. She is one of the few people who can play the jaltarang well. At present, she leads a quiet, simple life in England as an internationally recognised, successful vedic astrologer and author. In a first person account, she talks of the way her life steered her to a different course.

I WOULD compare my life to a musician who has played all notes to perfection and
used them to form a perfect raga. The varied experiences of my life, came in handy for me and helped me to relate to people as a friend, philosopher and astrologer. Success came to me in a routine manner, without any fuss or jubilation. It was, as if it were a way of life. I feel I should have carried on with my studies since I excelled in them. If I had opted out of them for the lure of glamour and fame at Bollywood, I should have branched out into direction or production and stayed on in Bombay. Today I realise the power of destiny and how every change in life without our knowledge is taking place for some pre-ordained goal or destination. I wasnt given a chance to explore my full potential in Hindi cinema and felt stagnant in a world of super five star culture with all its recognition and applause. Every one in the world of cinema has to deal with being popular on the outside, and terribly insecure inside. Each one has to constantly fight the demons of rejection and failure. Nothing and nobody is for keeps. You are just as good as your last role. Added to this were my few broken relationships. To combat all this, I started confiding in a friend, Ajit Sinha, who is a Sanskrit Scholar, well-versed in the ancient Indian art of astrology. He would explain to me the hand of nature in all my experiences. The configuration of the planets at the time of birth presents a map of your life. No one has a constant period of good or bad luck. The cycles of time touch our lives in their own unique way. In 1983, I moved to England and became a pioneer in introducing Indian art and handicrafts through my shops at Victoria and Waterloo Stations, in U.K. My consultations with Ajit continued and he became my Guru who helped me to understand Indian astrology. M.K. Gandhi, the Queens own astrologer was located near my workplace. I would often pay a hefty amount for his opinion and he would invariably overshoot the extent of appointment time to explain the hand of nature in our lives to me. Consciously or subconsciously, I was learning all the time. My shops in London closed down as England hit recession in early 90s and I moved to Romssey to concentrate on my shop of Indian handicrafts there. To augment my income, I took a chance at palm-reading on certain days of the

week in my shop. This caught on and gradually I found myself totally engrossed in astrology. The local radio and TV station started hosting my show regularly. One day I was invited by the Astrological Lodge of London to give a lecture on vedic astrology. This was followed by a lecture at the behest of the Astrological Association of Great Britain. These lectures were to help western astrologers understand the concept of Indian astrology. I realised the need to teach our astrological concepts to the West and started holding regular classes in London. In order to fulfil my need to teach, I decided to write my first book The Essentials of Vedic Astrology. The book was highly acclaimed. One day a client, Amanda, who was a writer, got a call from her publisher inquiring whether a vedic astrologer would be interested in writing a coffee table edition. This is destiny! I was the natural choice. Thus came along my next book, Vedic Astrology, which was followed by The lunar nodes: crises and redemption. I have already started work on the fourth book. All my work has been translated into German, Russian and French etc. I have clients the world over and maintain contact through my website. Over a period of time, I have had the privilege of being the Chairperson of the British Association of Vedic Astrology. The chief patron of this association is David Frawley. I am also on the board of The American Council of Vedic Astrology. In the USA, we are on the verge of opening a non-profitable and charitable institute for the study of astrology and hope that in India too astrology shall soon be studied seriously as a subject. I am not here to convince or change non-believers but neither would I shirk an active debate be it so! But yes, operators with little knowledge have maligned astrology. Astrology actually involves an extensive study of the world, the universe and substances that constitute it and in-depth research of our Vedas, Upanishdas and books on religion. It involves an ability to understand and rationalise. Along with all numerological calculations. What is required peaceful acceptance of life and having of ones instincts. As an astrologer, my advise to clients is not based on what I want done, but what my client can do within his social, spiritual and economic environment. So much of my work is also to guide them on to the path of accepting what is ordained for them. Astrology gives you the power and strength to understand and deal with the obstacles and enjoy the good fortunes. (As told to Teena Singh)