Palmistry: Myth or Reality? | Islamabad report

ISLAMABAD: The art of palmistry has been popular for ages. It is believed that fortune telling is more than telling people what they want to hear. Some view palmistry as a science.

Palmistry is too difficult an art and therefore not everybody who claims to be a palmist knows his stuff. Roadside palmists take advantage of people's helplessness and tensions by giving them tidings of a bright future. Most of the palmists who advertise in newspapers appear on television are fakes. The craze to knowing the future from soothsayers is rapidly increasing youngsters who are always keen to know about their future. They show their hands to anybody who claims that he or she knows palmistry.

Students visit palmists to know about the awaited result and girls about their marriage and marital life. But in the modern times no-one is sure whether the palmist is a fake or knows what is what. One can find palmists in every street and 90 percent out of them know nothing. Some sit by the roadside while other have opened their offices and they advertise in newspapers and have their visiting cards printed.

So popular is palmistry among the youth that palmistry stalls are a regular feature at functions in colleges. Mazher Abbas, a university student, told The Post that whenever any function is organised they book a stall for fortunetellers to attract more and more youngsters.

When The Post talked to a roadside palmist in Raja Bazaar he said mostly uneducated people came to him to show their hands and they want to hear good things.

"Almost every time I tell everyone the same things and they believe in me. They become excited and take a sigh of relief and feel a bit relaxed."