Mahapundit's Daughter

Mahapundit considered himself a great astrologer. He would try to make up his own theorems. The superstitious people of the town had great faith in his ability to foretell the future. "You would go abroad" -- he would tell Bhagwat's son, after he secured a first rank for the entire state. One year, the rains were delayed. "A sacred cow in Sirsi is pregant. Till she delivers, there will be no rain for the region" he declared, so when it eventually rained, we assumed that the cow had given birth. Anyway, he had a daughter Saras -- probably a truncated form of Goddess Saraswati. She was pretty, and many well qualified Brahmin boys came forward asking her hand in marriage. Mahapundit ran a calculation -- he declared that there were a lot of obstacles for happy marriage till Saras turned 27. He declined all alliances. But people has so much faith in his ability, that they thought it was for the best. Meanwhile, Mahapundits futures started going wrong. The retired manager of Canara Bank who was supposed to die fifteen years go is still living. The ailment that plagued the Pai family was not the curse of the Vetal, but AIDS. Saras is forty-two years old now. Still not married. Mahapundit blames the artificial "cell phone" satellites that are orbiting the earth for his calculation that went wrong.