Tarot ‘n’ You Tarot ‘n’ You

ARIES March 21–April 20

Tarot signifies that the present time is the opportune moment to start a new project. You need to use your skills and follow your instincts. You should be determined to use your potential to the maximum, to succeed. It is the right time to initiate action and execute plans. In a relationship reading, Tarot indicates a dynamic relationship where one partner provides the inspiration and the other makes them a reality, through his skills and practicality.

TAURUS April 21–May 21

There is a focus on the realisation of what you desire and your inner strength to achieve the same. Domestic changes are likely to take place. You may find yourself thinking about moving on in life towards a new setting. You desire to explore opportunities for fulfilment. It could be a search for a deeper commitment within your present relationship. It could also mean spending time in meditation or in study.

GEMINI May 22–June 23

Tarot signifies permanent changes. The old will give way to the new. It will bring with it new beliefs and understanding. There are times when situations end in life and new beginnings are seen and experienced. Certain beginnings are accepted easily and some may need adjustments. This card in a relationship reading signifies a major change in the relationship. It can either be the end of a relationship or levels of deeper commitment.

CANCER June 23–July 22

Tarot indicates a time for healing. You are likely to be at peace with yourself. Health is likely to improve, making you feel energetic. You are likely to have clarity of thought and so are able to take balanced decisions. The card for you represents purpose, planning and action towards attainment of desired goals. The card also suggests promotion and success in matters related to career. It portrays liberation and infinity of free will. Tarot indicates creativity and understanding in a relationship that is growing.

LEO July 23–August 23

Your focus is likely to be on your achievements and an overall feeling of happiness resulting from them. It is a card that signifies success and victory. You are nearing your personal goals and an enterprise is coming to a successful conclusion. You are feeling emotionally secure and content, which is due to a job well done. Your inner needs are fulfilled. In a relationship reading, there is a great deal of harmony as you have learnt to love and care for yourself, and so you work towards making a happier relationship.

VIRGO August 24–September 22

There seems to be an illusion that there is no choice other than to accept things as they are. Tarot indicates the hold of materialism on you, because of the temptations it provides. Your free will seems to have been lost, as being controlled seems an easier way out than taking responsibility for yourself. It could even mean a reluctance to change at the cost of growth. It is only you who can liberate yourself from this situation.

For Sale

LIBRA September 23 – October 23

Tarot foresees a focus on relationships. It is a good time for romance and compatibility on a personal level. Tarot indicates harmony, romance, peace, concord and prosperity. Gatherings will be happy and congenial. Monetary success is suggested. Purchase of property can be contemplated. Tarot indicates a quiet time spent with friends and family in a favourite place. It is a time when you are successful in feeling at home in a relatively new situation.

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

There is a focus on strength in opposition. Suspension of events is indicated. This period of delay should be used productively to reassess the line of action for the future. It is a card that tells you to complete a few of the incomplete projects in your life. In a relationship reading, it describes a cautious attitude towards the partner or relationships in general. You have perhaps been hurt by your partner or are yet to come to terms with your past relationships, and in turn are not able to commit yourself fully to the present one.

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

You are likely to be ambitious and will tend to plan towards your goals methodically. You are organized and will be able to put in serious efforts towards your project. You may feel that you aren’t getting due credit for your efforts. Things will turn out right in due course of time. You would benefit by being innovative, yet logical at the same time. Tarot signifies consolidating plans and taking firm steps towards attaining goals.

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

Now is the time to put plans into action. The idea is one of cooperation and business opportunities. Tarot represents established effort, enterprise and strength. Worries are likely to be lessened. Travel connected with career is also suggested. There is a feeling of happiness and optimism as aims are likely to be realised in future. Tarot suggests a relationship which is growing. The relationship may be centred around travel.

AQUARIUS January 20–February 18

Tarot signifies a period for spontaneity. There is a focus on trust and hope. Be prepared for the unexpected. It is a positive time for travel. You are likely to be offered new opportunities leading to new heights. You are likely to feel fulfilled if you undertake this unforeseen journey, so trust your judgement while planning for the future. Tarot depicts the journey of self-discovery with confidence, fun and optimism. In a relationship reading, you will benefit by living in the present.

PISCES

February 19–March 20

Tarot indicates the inevitability of change. Certain events in your life may be unexpected. Remain optimistic as changes at home or in relationships are likely to be for the best. You need to leave behind old beliefs and values which no longer support you and adopt a new approach in order to progress ahead. You need to accept the fact that old forms collapse and give way to new forms, for the better.

Film: Ishqiya

Director: Abhishek Choubey

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan

Ishqiya is a very strange film. Strange, not so much in terms of content, unless you really believe there are sleepy dusty towns in north India where boys learn to use a gun before they learn to wash their own bottoms. But in terms of the way the three main characters are thrown against each other in combustions that suggest a brutal bonding between the libido and the landscape.

To cinematographer Mohana Krishna’s credit, he creates in the suburbs of Mumbai (masquerading as Gorakhpur) a kind of sweeping lazy ambience of leisurely selfindulgence.

Ishqiya is the kind of cinema that you can love or hate, but cannot be indifferent to. The dusty, parched, sexually and spiritually arid hinterland renders itself effectively to the characters. The uncle-nephew pair of Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi provide the kind of sweaty, grimy male bonding that we saw in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds

The two protagonists in Ishqiya represent the acme of reprehensibility. Come to think of it, there isn’t a single character in the plot whom you can begin to like, let alone admire. Like the Naseer-Arsha-Vidya triangle the other characters are either hazy or horny, or both. There’s a businessman who sells steel on the surface and supplies illegal arms underneath. He’s supposed to represent the clan of the corrupt. to sink his skills into a part of a raunchy, randy rogue, out to get the neighbourhood widow to hit the sack.

Vidya Balan’s Krishna is a conniving victim. And if that sounds like a contradiction in terms, it is purposefully projected into a plot that pulsates with a seedy tension and a freewheeling virile humour. The writing on the wall is very clear - hate these characters who live by the gun.

How the film finds a central core of gentleness in this milieu of murky machinations is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.

Debutant director Abhishek Choubey tries to create two different worlds, one of criminality and the other of compassion, within one range of vision. It’s a tall order.

Some of the sex and power play among Vidya, Arshad and Naseer’s characters are intriguing and arresting in its swift shifts of dramatic tension from one to the other.

Towards the second overture of this untried symphony of antipathy, the writer and director conspire to create a bizarre climactic spiral involving a shady business tycoon in the area, who our trio of protagonists decides to kidnap.

By the time the kidnapping plan goes horribly awry, the narrative too loses its bearings.

If the film holds you until the end it’s because of the principal performances.

Naseeruddin Shah confers a rock-solid tenderness to his ageing criminal-lover’s role.

But the film belongs to Vidya Balan. With a face and eyes that convey a determination to make her way through a rough patriarchal order, Vidya is tender, brittle, cunning and cool - all rolled into a bundle of bewildering emotions that unfold more through her body language than the script. She rises above the self-indulgent realism of the narrative.

A triumph for the actress. But what of the