The stars speak to her. And she counsels the humans to lead a good life

Her clients are bowled over by her predictions. Her guidance through challenges is ‘so satisfying’ and just talking to her gives strength, they affirm. Her response is always ‘solution oriented’. No wonder they all refer her to family circle and friends. Mamatha Sathish, ‘astropsychologist’ is a busy and a much sought after person in Bangalore.

It was by chance that Mamatha, with an engineering degree, ended up as an astrologer-cum-psychologist. Or, perhaps it was destiny. Her grandfather Srikanth Bhat from Gudibande was a famous astrologer whom industrialist M S Ramaiah would consult. Mamatha was born on a day when his death anniversary was being observed.

Hailing from Chitradurga in Karnataka where she underwent her education, she joined TCS after completing her electrical and electronic engineering. Marriage followed. Her father in law was often sick and during the many visits with him to hospital, she would watch “how impersonally the doctors dealt with patients. Medicines were given for the physical issue but nothing else. There was no counselling and patients would be so depressed. I realised the need for counselling and soon enrolled for a basic course with Banjara Academy.”

Mamatha wanted to learn more and soon she had a MS in Counselling and Psychotherapy from Kuvempu University and then a post-graduation in psychology from a Kolkatta based university. She has worked at various places, including Spandana, Kidwai and Nimhans, as a counsellor. She has counselled juvenile delinquents in remand homes. One incident where a team of counsellors were working with young girls brought further insight.

Among the young girls rescued from prostitution was a young 16 year old who was pregnant and the team helped get the foetus aborted. The girl escaped and went back to the flesh trade. “I realised two things then. One, the person we counsel needs to be educated too. And, we need to be able to see beyond spoken words that can deceive us. I then thought of combining astrology with counselling for best results,” says the engineer-turned-counsellor-turned-astrologer, who is a trained singer too.

She studied under renowned astrologer and musician Prabhanjanacharya Haveri and was his first student. Since six years Mamatha has been practising astrology. The details she can reel off about a person from the stars and planets, their placements and promises, their influences and hold, is awe-inspiring. Already the awards adorning the walls at her office and home are many.

Psychotherapy

As her clients will vouch, Mamatha begins her sessions by building a rapport that helps the person open up. This then leads to a catharsis, followed by therapy. Psychotherapy is tough, she says but with help from the stars, she is able to zoom in to the exact areas that need to be addressed.

She has studied over 20,000 horoscopes till date and given psychotherapy. Her very first prediction was in a facebook group where one member announced having lost her wallet. Mamatha could recount the colour and state of the wallet and told the woman that it would be returned after three days. She also predicted that the money would be taken but all the remaining documents would be returned. Initial disbelief in the group changed fast as soon as the purse was returned three days later, as predicted.

In another case, Mamatha helped track a missing child through her ‘prashna shastra’ which is basically a Vedic art that helps make predictions based on a chart of the exact time the question is posed. She gave the parents hourly briefs on where the child was, assuring them he was safe and merely scared to face parents due to his poor exam results. The boy eventually returned home. Similarly, a person who lost a sapphire finger ring during a visit to a temple eventually got the ring back as predicted by Mamatha.

 “In such cases I do not do any analysis. It is all based on intuition,” she says, adding that the Universe delivers and she is just a medium for it. Quoting her favourite Carl Jung, she talks of the Universe as a giant computer with many archetypes that are universal and common to all people across space and time. As Jung believed, the collective unconscious is a shared set of experiences that connect people to each other and to ancestors.

To a question on how she tackles unsavoury predictions, Mamatha says she does not diagnose ‘doshas’ or the bad alignment of stars in a horoscope but prefers to work with each person’s strengths. A woman who had come to her with suspicions of her husband’s infidelity had divorce clearly indicated in her horoscope. However, she was unwilling to let him go. “I advised her ways to become financially independent of him. She has now opened a bank account and transferred some money to that from their investments. They are still married and he is still at his promiscuous ways. At least, she is now prepared for living on her own.”

Mamatha has been able to make a big change in the lives of her clients. They range from potential suicide victims to black magic recipients. “For seven years I was very sick and my daughter was facing emotionally challenges. Some ‘angel’ referred me to Mamatha and I could be saved,” says one client who was facing paranormal issues at the house she was staying in. “For any problem, I go back to her.”

A child ailing from spinal muscular atrophy needed an injection that was hard to procure and cost crores of rupees. The general practice was to draw lots and award it to the winner. Mamatha advised the parents to go for crowd-funding and also predicted that they would win the lucky draw.  On both counts she was proved right.

Another client who was curious on seeing the board proclaiming ‘astropsychologist’ went to consult Mamatha on “three questions no one had been able to answer for me’. “She could satisfy me on that and all her predictions are so perfect. In fact, at our meeting she had told a big change would happen within 15 days. It was amazing when it really happened. She never tells you the bad stuff but instead enables you. She is an asset to the human community.”

A media person who is her client calls Mamatha ‘my guiding pole star’ whom I consult when facing any challenge. “Her predictions are 100 per cent accurate and way of consultation so friendly I see her as my sister. She had advised me against a move I was planning and spoke of some awards coming my way. I did not believe that much, till it happened!”

How does Mamatha deal with clients coming back to her and using her as a crutch? “I am always ready to help but I do not encourage emotional entanglement as that will then affect the predictions. That is where I try to direct them to their strengths. While destiny is one aspect, there is the free will that we all need to exercise.” She is against the practice of expensive ‘pariharas’ that call for homas, yantras, gem stones etc, saying that nothing external can solve an issue which needs to be faced with awareness and right action by the individual.

Mamatha plans to set up suicide prevention helpline “to save precious lives” and also to pursue a doctorate in astropsychology therapy to establish its effectiveness.

The influence of the universe outside, and the awareness within, can indeed be a potent combination that can lead to a happy and purposeful life in sync with the collective. Channels like Mamatha help light the path.

Written by Jaya

(The above article is the outcome of an interview with Mamatha Sathish and some of her clients. Readers are encouraged to explore the article with an open mindset and recognise that astrology is not a one-size-fits-all concept.)