1
00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:11,280
Speaker 1: Warning.

2
00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,200
Speaker 2: The following episode includes discussion of magical leaves, prophecies, miracles,

3
00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,720
Speaker 2: big temples, bigger disappointments, black magic, fresh lime, soda, and

4
00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,080
Speaker 2: snake astronauts. Sensitive listeners, you've been warned.

5
00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,280
Speaker 1: How about the heart of Goliad.

6
00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,279
Speaker 3: Okay, it's the middle of August. I've been in India for

7
00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,600
Speaker 3: two minutes and everything is falling apart. I want the

8
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,680
Speaker 3: complaint number for the universe. I want a manager on

9
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,000
Speaker 3: the line because this is not what my astrologer, doctor

10
00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:49,360
Speaker 3: Kumar told me. What happened.

11
00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,080
Speaker 4: So you're in the right track. Something very profound is

12
00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,200
Speaker 4: going to happen to you now.

13
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,200
Speaker 3: I mean doctor Kumar did predict I'd be going to

14
00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:58,200
Speaker 3: India for this show.

15
00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,800
Speaker 4: There are lots of things for you to accomplish, including

16
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,760
Speaker 4: foreign travels. So go to India because that is all

17
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,040
Speaker 4: the young and wisdoms.

18
00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:10,440
Speaker 3: And he also said this.

19
00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,800
Speaker 5: You cannot fail. Let's put it as that.

20
00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,240
Speaker 3: Back in April, I experienced a miracle of astrology. I'd

21
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:28,279
Speaker 3: walked into a random astrologer's office in Queen's and during

22
00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,839
Speaker 3: my session, the astrologer, doctor Kumar, had told me something

23
00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:37,000
Speaker 3: horrible would happen, and he was right. Exactly one month later,

24
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,640
Speaker 3: my father passed away and it changed the trajectory of

25
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,000
Speaker 3: both this show and my life. And for many people

26
00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 3: that would be enough to make them believe in astrology,

27
00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,200
Speaker 3: but it wasn't. For me. Astrology had told me what

28
00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,040
Speaker 3: would happen, but I still had no idea what to

29
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,560
Speaker 3: do about it. But there was one place that I

30
00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,360
Speaker 3: really thought could have to answer, these little shops hidden

31
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,840
Speaker 3: across India that practiced nadi astrology. The idea is, your

32
00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,120
Speaker 3: fortune was written on scrolls centuries ago, and if you

33
00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,680
Speaker 3: can find your scroll, it'll reveal everything, your past, your future,

34
00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,440
Speaker 3: Who's the person you're supposed to be? Anyway, the moment

35
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,639
Speaker 3: I decided to book the trip to see one of

36
00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,760
Speaker 3: these shops, I call my aunt's suman and ask her

37
00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,359
Speaker 3: to be my fixer. When I was in high school,

38
00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,280
Speaker 3: summon Or Sumanaka and my uncle Giant let me live

39
00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,440
Speaker 3: and intern with them in Bombay for a summer. They

40
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,200
Speaker 3: were running this hotview advertising company called Heartbeat, which had

41
00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:46,800
Speaker 3: just made huge waves with this racy condom campaigning comedy.

42
00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,680
Speaker 3: Of course, I sat in on the decidedly less racy

43
00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 3: creative meetings, which I loved pitching ideas and jingles for

44
00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,520
Speaker 3: things like washing the jeans and ceiling fans. That summer

45
00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,760
Speaker 3: gave high school me a huge boost of confidence. It

46
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,560
Speaker 3: had this direct impact on my co founding a magazine

47
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,720
Speaker 3: a few years later. But also hanging with Simonika was

48
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,959
Speaker 3: just fun. She inspired silliness, like sometimes she'll just decide

49
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,440
Speaker 3: it's more enjoyable to have a conversation like you're singing

50
00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:24,400
Speaker 3: opera to one another.

51
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,920
Speaker 6: Today's shopping lists for me coffee jam, a bag of.

52
00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 5: Tea, something sweet, and spaghetti.

53
00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,080
Speaker 4: This will be how boring spree.

54
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,800
Speaker 3: So I'm eager to hang out with her again. Except

55
00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,560
Speaker 3: somewhere between Bombay's baggage claim and customs, I get this.

56
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,080
Speaker 2: Call right, No, I'm shivering away, so.

57
00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,680
Speaker 7: I'm so I'm really so sorry that you're you're ill.

58
00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,040
Speaker 8: It was really frustrating because I arranged.

59
00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,640
Speaker 3: Everything and Somanaka is waiting for the doctor to call back,

60
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,280
Speaker 3: and it's very like she has denay fever. Well, I've

61
00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:06,680
Speaker 3: been using my mosquito repellent like it's cologne, and so

62
00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,560
Speaker 3: it's I'm playing it cool on the phone, but this

63
00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:16,640
Speaker 3: is me secretly terrified. Not so much about the diseases though,

64
00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:21,320
Speaker 3: Dengay and COVID are definitely not great. But more how

65
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,000
Speaker 3: I'm going to manage these interviews.

66
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,719
Speaker 7: If they speak English, I'm fine going alone.

67
00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,400
Speaker 3: Huh oh, he only speaks Hindi. This is a problem

68
00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:36,480
Speaker 3: because merry Hindi Boho karab aka, My Hindi is shit.

69
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,479
Speaker 3: So I panic, and then I have an idea. What

70
00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,200
Speaker 3: if hers son plays translator for me? And I realized

71
00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,520
Speaker 3: this is a ridiculous question. But for the naughty guy,

72
00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,480
Speaker 3: is there any way I could take Argin with me. Argin,

73
00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,560
Speaker 3: who's a few years younger than me, was always a

74
00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:01,000
Speaker 3: golden child. He was handsome, sensitive, artistic, and musical. But

75
00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,240
Speaker 3: I lost track of him in our twenties when he

76
00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,880
Speaker 3: moved to Dubai and started a career there. And then

77
00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,840
Speaker 3: there was this period where he fully disappeared, this dark

78
00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,800
Speaker 3: spot which our family doesn't really talk about.

79
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:16,400
Speaker 9: You'll have to ask him.

80
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,240
Speaker 7: Yeah, you just call him.

81
00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:29,919
Speaker 3: Yeah, that can be nice. The rain pommels the city

82
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,560
Speaker 3: as I take a cab in, but I'm happy to

83
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,320
Speaker 3: see them monsoon. It's both wet and sunny outside, and

84
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,159
Speaker 3: everything smells green and earthy. As the rain continues to

85
00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,920
Speaker 3: fall in the lobby, the hotel doors are open, and

86
00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,159
Speaker 3: if you look just right between the swaying palms and

87
00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:54,040
Speaker 3: the mist, you can spot the Arabian Sea. I'm fiddling

88
00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,159
Speaker 3: with my recording equipment when I spot Argine walking in,

89
00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,400
Speaker 3: I'm brilliant. I can't tell you how happy I am

90
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,040
Speaker 3: to see him. We're both prayer, both dads.

91
00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:07,240
Speaker 10: Now.

92
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,760
Speaker 3: After a quick embrace, I tell him about the chaos

93
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,640
Speaker 3: that's welcomed me, how he saved me, because I feel

94
00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,040
Speaker 3: like that's my entire trip, is like everything's falling apart slowly.

95
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:18,599
Speaker 1: You know.

96
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:24,160
Speaker 9: The charm of India is that even if everything's breaking down,

97
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,800
Speaker 9: everything's fine. You know, everyone has a very nice, relaxed

98
00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:31,560
Speaker 9: kind of attitude, like this happens. Yeah, well, you can't

99
00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:32,719
Speaker 9: take life so seriously.

100
00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:38,159
Speaker 3: There's a phrase in India chelta, which loosely translates to

101
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,520
Speaker 3: don't worry things happen. You hear it a lot because

102
00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,800
Speaker 3: India is unbridled. No matter how much you try to

103
00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,120
Speaker 3: will it, it runs on its own schedule. And that's

104
00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,560
Speaker 3: wonderfully easy to embrace. When you're on vacation, you're not

105
00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,279
Speaker 3: responsible for what happens. But it's a little more difficult

106
00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:59,760
Speaker 3: when You're on an impossible quest to determine what you

107
00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,320
Speaker 3: should and shouldn't believe for the rest of your life,

108
00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,320
Speaker 3: and you've given yourself two weeks to do that. But

109
00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,120
Speaker 3: that's why people come to India right, to go on

110
00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,640
Speaker 3: some sort of spiritual retreat and find themselves. God, I'm

111
00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,800
Speaker 3: such a cliche. The only thing I can hope for

112
00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:20,640
Speaker 3: now is that doctor Kumar is going to be right twice.

113
00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:23,880
Speaker 5: You cannot fail. Let's put it as that.

114
00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:31,840
Speaker 3: From Kaleidoscope and iHeart Podcasts, I'm Monga'shatiquador. Welcome to Skyline Drive.

115
00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,080
Speaker 3: Chapter one, Straight from Shiva's mouth.

116
00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:31,040
Speaker 11: Come from Maya, from Holland.

117
00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,880
Speaker 3: This is Bombay. As a kid, Bombay is where I

118
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,160
Speaker 3: used to start and end every trip to India. Midnight

119
00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,080
Speaker 3: arrivals and two a m feasts with relatives who've been

120
00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,640
Speaker 3: waiting years to see us. The world was bigger than

121
00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:49,640
Speaker 3: harder to wrap your arms around, and flights to India

122
00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,640
Speaker 3: took twenty two hours with multiple layovers and refueling stops.

123
00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:58,880
Speaker 3: New York than Paris, than Cairo, than Delhi and only

124
00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,480
Speaker 3: then Bombay. And it was expensive. We'd save up until

125
00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,920
Speaker 3: we could go back, and every trip was an event.

126
00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,760
Speaker 3: This is the library. It's under my aunt's apartment in chamber,

127
00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,280
Speaker 3: and it's where I used to borrow old comics and

128
00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:18,640
Speaker 3: mad magazines. This is the Jim Khanna where I learned

129
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,560
Speaker 3: to play snooker. This is Xavier's, where my dad studied

130
00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:28,760
Speaker 3: and then didn't. It is more delinquent years. This is

131
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,040
Speaker 3: the disco where I learned to dance, and Kyber where

132
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:37,040
Speaker 3: my parents went on their first day. Bombay has always

133
00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,000
Speaker 3: felt like my city in New York. People correct me

134
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:45,320
Speaker 3: when I say Bombay, but Indians never do. Still, I

135
00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,440
Speaker 3: toggle between the names depending on my mood. Driving through

136
00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,840
Speaker 3: the city, it feels like an old friend whose path

137
00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,360
Speaker 3: is veered from your own, like you don't quite see

138
00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,959
Speaker 3: eye to eye anymore, but you're also not around each

139
00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:59,719
Speaker 3: other for long enough to make a thing of it.

140
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,160
Speaker 3: The thing is, I still feel my dad here, like

141
00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,120
Speaker 3: a fog that descended on the city ages ago and

142
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:14,200
Speaker 3: refused to burn off.

143
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:17,960
Speaker 5: A great time.

144
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:22,160
Speaker 12: But I kind of just got into this relationship, so

145
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,560
Speaker 12: I don't know how to navigate.

146
00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,120
Speaker 3: And she's like all cool and sergent, and I are

147
00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,800
Speaker 3: standing on a street corner in the Santa Cruz neighborhood

148
00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,559
Speaker 3: of Bombay and we're waiting to step into the naughty

149
00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,839
Speaker 3: shop that my aunt someone somehow located for us. From

150
00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,360
Speaker 3: the outside, the place looks tiny and nondescript, something you'd

151
00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,000
Speaker 3: overlook if you weren't hunting for it.

152
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,240
Speaker 5: How would you describe it since you're not familiar.

153
00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,079
Speaker 3: There's a fleet of rickshaws going by us right and

154
00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,000
Speaker 3: the rain is stopped now, but there were tons of

155
00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:54,520
Speaker 3: puddles and.

156
00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,360
Speaker 13: Lots of Gawship of the cow seem to do.

157
00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,400
Speaker 3: Even in central Bombay, cows owned the road.

158
00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,600
Speaker 7: We're going to walk into this place to see the Naddy.

159
00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:03,800
Speaker 7: Do you know anything about Natty?

160
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,640
Speaker 9: This will be my first experience too, But there's a

161
00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,320
Speaker 9: lot of fortune telling that happens in India, and some

162
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,880
Speaker 9: of it can be pretty authentic, though the Charlatans are

163
00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,400
Speaker 9: much more in number. Yeah, so I'm hoping this is

164
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:18,400
Speaker 9: a great experience.

165
00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,640
Speaker 3: The funny thing about these naughty shops is that as

166
00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,120
Speaker 3: soon as people tell you to go to one, they'll

167
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,120
Speaker 3: also tell you how many fake ones there are. But

168
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,199
Speaker 3: this place is well regarded, so I'm hopeful. We walk

169
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,040
Speaker 3: through the doorway, leave our shoes in a dusty two

170
00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,840
Speaker 3: foot by two foot vestibule and then enter reception barefoot.

171
00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:42,960
Speaker 3: I don't know what I was expecting, like maybe a

172
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,800
Speaker 3: wall full of scrolls, or maybe big brass sculptures of

173
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:52,000
Speaker 3: little known deities and saints, or maybe just some wal art. Instead,

174
00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,600
Speaker 3: we're standing in a tiny, poorly lit box, a couple

175
00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,280
Speaker 3: of benches pressed up against the walls, and a desk

176
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,040
Speaker 3: facing the door. We give our name to the man

177
00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:07,920
Speaker 3: pottering at the desk, and then we just wait. Of course,

178
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,440
Speaker 3: of course, the Natti reader Lukashchi peeks out from behind

179
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,720
Speaker 3: a wall to tell us he's doing his morning prayers.

180
00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:17,320
Speaker 3: He asks us if we like water or tea while

181
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,000
Speaker 3: we wait? How incredible would it be if the first

182
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,480
Speaker 3: astrologer I met in India located in an instruction manual

183
00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,160
Speaker 3: for the rest of my life. What if the leaves

184
00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,040
Speaker 3: hiding in his archive actually contain my life's purpose? I

185
00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:35,240
Speaker 3: am genuinely giddy. The prayers take longer than ten minutes,

186
00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:41,040
Speaker 3: but Subchelta, hey, it all works. We get ushered into

187
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,880
Speaker 3: an even tinier room, though this one actually has personality.

188
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,600
Speaker 3: It's bright lime green, with a couple of temple calendars

189
00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,880
Speaker 3: on the wall, and then Mukish walks in with an

190
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:53,760
Speaker 3: armful of wooden bundles.

191
00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,480
Speaker 5: So these are a whole bunch of scrolls.

192
00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:02,760
Speaker 3: Actually, Mukeish places the scrolls on his desk and let'sus

193
00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:03,439
Speaker 3: inspect them.

194
00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:07,400
Speaker 5: This is oh wow, it's engraved. There's beautiful.

195
00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,240
Speaker 3: I've been calling them scrolls, but that feels like the

196
00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,319
Speaker 3: wrong word. Have you ever seen those pantone booklets with

197
00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,360
Speaker 3: pages that fan out? These are almost like an ancient

198
00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,000
Speaker 3: version of that, but longer, made of very thin sheets.

199
00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,760
Speaker 3: Each scroll is maybe three to four inches wide and

200
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,680
Speaker 3: about a foot and a half long, and they're stacked

201
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,520
Speaker 3: and bound with maybe thirty or forty per booklet. As

202
00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,800
Speaker 3: we marvel at the tiny lines of text etched across them,

203
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,520
Speaker 3: Mukeish explains the origins and what they said.

204
00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,920
Speaker 5: These as just the leaves.

205
00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,800
Speaker 3: He tells us, we're etched in the eighteenth century when

206
00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,200
Speaker 3: a family made copies of the original millennia old predictions.

207
00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:50,240
Speaker 3: The engravings were laborious and the script is tiny. But

208
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,920
Speaker 3: these scrolls have lasted because the caretakers meticulously rub them

209
00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,240
Speaker 3: with oil once a year to preserve them. Here's our

210
00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:58,040
Speaker 3: gin translating.

211
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,319
Speaker 14: This is coming from Paminan, the oldest language in the world.

212
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,880
Speaker 5: And it's coming from the Siddhar tradition.

213
00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:09,200
Speaker 9: The Sas are some of the oldest keepers.

214
00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:11,800
Speaker 5: Of knowledge according to Indiana.

215
00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:16,120
Speaker 3: Mukish also tells us that these Nadi shastras or sacred

216
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:22,240
Speaker 3: prophecies have a mythological prominence. Lord Shiva, in his infinite wisdom,

217
00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,000
Speaker 3: shared this knowledge with the goddess Parverti, his wife, and

218
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,200
Speaker 3: then she passed it on to Lord Brahma, who passed

219
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,360
Speaker 3: the knowledge from the gods to the sages and then

220
00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,440
Speaker 3: finally to the priests. And to me, it sounds like

221
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:38,800
Speaker 3: a game of celestial telephone. But Mukish, she tells us

222
00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,760
Speaker 3: these scrolls are actually less prone to human error than

223
00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:46,920
Speaker 3: traditional astrology because the words inscribed here comes straight from God.

224
00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:51,920
Speaker 15: So he is only the reader that the information is

225
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:58,160
Speaker 15: directly available and cannot be soiled by human that as.

226
00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,640
Speaker 3: Such, Mukesh tells us he's been doing this for twenty

227
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:03,320
Speaker 3: nine years. He shows his photos on his phone of

228
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,120
Speaker 3: him with clients people he asks us not to share,

229
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,480
Speaker 3: but they include some of India's biggest politicians and most

230
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,320
Speaker 3: famous scientists. He stresses that he's a humble man. He

231
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,800
Speaker 3: is just a reader providing answers for people. In need,

232
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,200
Speaker 3: and I believe him. Then he gently reaches for my thumb,

233
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,520
Speaker 3: rolls it across a pad of ink, and he presses

234
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:26,760
Speaker 3: it onto a sheet of paper.

235
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:32,080
Speaker 14: Said that he gave us some methodology directly relating to

236
00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:35,600
Speaker 14: the thump pige for which there are under any divisions.

237
00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,720
Speaker 3: Basically, the whorls on my finger will give the librarians

238
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,520
Speaker 3: a clue as to where my leaf might be. There

239
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:44,560
Speaker 3: are thousands and thousands of these bundles of scrolls in

240
00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,440
Speaker 3: the back, and they're all carefully organized. Sometimes, he says,

241
00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,720
Speaker 3: the process can take fifteen minutes. Sometimes it takes months.

242
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,760
Speaker 3: He also comments on my aunt's absence. He says, part

243
00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,400
Speaker 3: of the reason she fell ill was that she wasn't

244
00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,120
Speaker 3: meant to be here today. You can only show up

245
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,360
Speaker 3: in this room if it's your destiny. Sometimes people have

246
00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:08,480
Speaker 3: car accidents trying to get here. Others apparently get dange.

247
00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,280
Speaker 3: But since I've made it into this room, he tells me,

248
00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:13,040
Speaker 3: this is fate.

249
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,640
Speaker 14: If it's also such that at the end of the day,

250
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:18,160
Speaker 14: this is a Yeah.

251
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:20,280
Speaker 5: There will be problems.

252
00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,600
Speaker 14: He said that you must remain in your mind and

253
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,320
Speaker 14: your heart quiet, because.

254
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,400
Speaker 5: Problems will come, problems will go.

255
00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:34,760
Speaker 14: Yeah, so try and stay calm, but it is destiny.

256
00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,240
Speaker 3: I stare at the income my thumb, remembering this weird

257
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,200
Speaker 3: fact for my days at mental floss that koalas have

258
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,560
Speaker 3: fingerprints that could be mistaken for humans, and I laugh

259
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,080
Speaker 3: to myself, wondering if my scroll could be mistaken for kualas.

260
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,120
Speaker 3: If mukishg walks back in and tells me that I'll

261
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,040
Speaker 3: enjoy napping in trees for eighteen hours a day, or

262
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,880
Speaker 3: if in my older age, I'll really love feasting on eucalyptus,

263
00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,440
Speaker 3: then I'll know exactly what went wrong. It's the type

264
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,480
Speaker 3: of dumb joke that i'd share with someone thatka, but

265
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,560
Speaker 3: it's too dumb to make in this room. Over the

266
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,440
Speaker 3: next three weeks that I'm in India, my cash full

267
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:17,640
Speaker 3: look and he'll keep touching face, but he won't find

268
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:35,760
Speaker 3: my scroll. Chapter two, The Thing that Matters.

269
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,159
Speaker 1: Yea melankluch now mal local k yea local ka ye

270
00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:47,639
Speaker 1: swager by Russi The Wall local La local kayak ya

271
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,440
Speaker 1: melonli now mal local k ye local ka yea sweger

272
00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,119
Speaker 1: by us The wall local okay ye lola.

273
00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,840
Speaker 3: Local language is curious and how it informs and reflects

274
00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,720
Speaker 3: I deals. The way my family talks is gentle. The

275
00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,439
Speaker 3: dialect we speak is sing song ye. My old roommate

276
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 3: Lasako used to tell me it was like butter when

277
00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:11,920
Speaker 3: she heard me talking to my mom on the phone.

278
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:17,560
Speaker 3: But if it's sweet and overly polite, it's also not direct.

279
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,800
Speaker 3: My dad didn't often talk about the sad things or

280
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,879
Speaker 3: the hard things. Often he'd skip over the specifics and

281
00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,680
Speaker 3: allude to difficulties in terms that were vague but capacious.

282
00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,520
Speaker 3: So if you were to discuss my cousin Argin, he

283
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,600
Speaker 3: might say, it was so hard what he went through.

284
00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:43,800
Speaker 3: It's really good. He's back now, which is insufficient. My

285
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,240
Speaker 3: cousin Argin is back now, And of course i'd heard

286
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,200
Speaker 3: the whispers, but he told me his story.

287
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:52,440
Speaker 12: I'm also going to try and get you up in

288
00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:53,160
Speaker 12: a night show.

289
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,200
Speaker 3: It involves him building townships in the Ivory.

290
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:02,199
Speaker 13: Coast now let's say Ivory Ghost but yeah, and.

291
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,280
Speaker 3: Then coming back to Dubai to help sort a multimillion

292
00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:05,840
Speaker 3: dollar deal.

293
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,440
Speaker 13: I actually shifted to the Middle East. Everyone was like,

294
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:10,760
Speaker 13: what's wrong with you?

295
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,560
Speaker 3: It involves a reneged transaction and him taking the fall

296
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:16,119
Speaker 3: for someone else's carelessness.

297
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:18,840
Speaker 16: I called up and I said can I come back

298
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,679
Speaker 16: now that I sent you all money to clear everything?

299
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,000
Speaker 13: He said, come on back, there's no problem. You send

300
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,800
Speaker 13: the money, You've cleared everything. I came back and I

301
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:28,480
Speaker 13: got arrested.

302
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,840
Speaker 3: It's him being thrown in some of the region's worst

303
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:37,520
Speaker 3: and most violent prisons. I did so multifficulties, yeah, go

304
00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,399
Speaker 3: and pretending to be a Buddhist so he wouldn't be

305
00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:42,600
Speaker 3: killed for being a Hindu.

306
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,159
Speaker 5: Many of them are taking them, but a lot of

307
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:46,840
Speaker 5: them were night.

308
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,160
Speaker 3: It is a story of trauma.

309
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 5: I kind of collapsed, thank you, spiritual, psychologically.

310
00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,160
Speaker 3: And finding a guru who nurtured his resiliency.

311
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,560
Speaker 14: The guru actually we can identify within you whether you're

312
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:04,320
Speaker 14: ready or you're still holding back.

313
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:06,480
Speaker 3: And it's the story of a miracle.

314
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,320
Speaker 5: Because when I came out, I had had malaria for

315
00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:16,280
Speaker 5: fifty days. Wow, without medication. There was no practical reason

316
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:17,880
Speaker 5: in the world I should have done life.

317
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:19,640
Speaker 3: And another.

318
00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,560
Speaker 5: Sentence disappeared. They could let me go because they didn't

319
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,159
Speaker 5: know what hoever they were doing. And the person that

320
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,199
Speaker 5: didn't have any court of any jail sentence.

321
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 3: Some of our chats I taped some of them. I didn't,

322
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,160
Speaker 3: but I know he could have died in prison from

323
00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:40,960
Speaker 3: beatings or malaria or anything. He could have been there forever,

324
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:44,920
Speaker 3: except somehow a mystic told him his court records would disappear,

325
00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,920
Speaker 3: and they did, and the mystic assured him the jails

326
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,920
Speaker 3: would release him on house arrest, and they did. And

327
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,800
Speaker 3: then the Guru told him to go. So we hid,

328
00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:00,119
Speaker 3: and he waited, and he waited until in darkness he

329
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 3: was stuffed into the bed of a truck, crammed in

330
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:07,359
Speaker 3: with other terrified bodies, and trafficked across borders until he

331
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 3: found his way home. And now it is him being

332
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 3: here in India with me, and still I've.

333
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,720
Speaker 5: Come out of life once again that too many of

334
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:20,560
Speaker 5: times have done that.

335
00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:23,600
Speaker 3: It's a way to tell a story without telling a story.

336
00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:30,639
Speaker 3: It is vague and capacious and insufficient. But he is

337
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 3: back now and it's the thing that matters. Chapter three.

338
00:21:48,640 --> 00:22:03,680
Speaker 3: Believe me, Despite Makeisha's reputation, I had struck out in Bombay,

339
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,680
Speaker 3: but luckily I had come with a backup plan to

340
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,880
Speaker 3: make a pilgrimage to Chennai. The truth is, I don't

341
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:14,879
Speaker 3: know anything about Chennai. I've never been, and mostly people

342
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 3: in my family have warned me there's no reason to

343
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,720
Speaker 3: go not because of anything cultural or political. It just

344
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:24,120
Speaker 3: comes down to the weather. Everyone complains about the intense

345
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,920
Speaker 3: heat and humidity, but Chennai, which is located in the

346
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 3: South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is special in terms

347
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,440
Speaker 3: of Nadi. According to the story, when the rishi's or

348
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,400
Speaker 3: holy men received the wisdom of the gods, they transcribed

349
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,919
Speaker 3: it aunt to leaves, and those leaves were protected by

350
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 3: generations of South Indian kings and at some point these

351
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 3: manuscripts ended up in a library in Thunjur, also in

352
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:51,040
Speaker 3: Tamil Nadu, And while some of the copies were loaned

353
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 3: out to other cities like Delhi or Mumbai, the majority

354
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 3: of the authentic Nadi centers stayed local, within driving distance

355
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 3: of Chennai. My friend and story editor Mark has agreed

356
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 3: to come with me, which is a really nice security blanket,

357
00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:07,720
Speaker 3: and I also invite Argent.

358
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 7: Should I get you a ticket to come meet us there?

359
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 3: I would love that.

360
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: Yeah.

361
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:13,120
Speaker 7: Perfect.

362
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 3: For a minute, we thought Mark wasn't going to make

363
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 3: it to India. His visa got backlogged. There was a

364
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 3: moment where I wanted to tell him not to worry

365
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:27,120
Speaker 3: Chelseda hey, but even I lost faith by this point. Then,

366
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,600
Speaker 3: thanks to God or the Indian embassy or possibly doctor Kumar,

367
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,000
Speaker 3: it was approved right before he was set to leave.

368
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,480
Speaker 7: It'll be fun, I think. I think the three of

369
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 7: us hanging out will be fun.

370
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, so cool, Okay.

371
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 11: Judgment record from tomost Conradic Nashville and both the rest dominant.

372
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 6: Anazi and another.

373
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,200
Speaker 3: When we land where welcome by our drivers Satish, and

374
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 3: an entire town plastered in chess olympiad posters featuring a

375
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 3: cartoon horse and a DOOTHI because apparently Chennai is India's

376
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,720
Speaker 3: chess capital. Besides the posters, which are honestly everywhere, I'm

377
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,720
Speaker 3: a little surprised by how little of the language I

378
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,600
Speaker 3: can follow. I don't speak a look of Tamil, the

379
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,240
Speaker 3: local language here, and neither does Urgent. And the six

380
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 3: or seven languages we can cobble together between the two

381
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 3: of us don't help us in the slightest. So it's

382
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 3: funny how alien I feel in a country where I'm

383
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 3: normally so at home. Speaking of aliens, I should probably

384
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:43,960
Speaker 3: tell you about the strangest person I meet on my

385
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,439
Speaker 3: entire journey between Mumbai and Chennai. I had stopped off

386
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 3: in Bangalore, a town filled with relatives. On one of

387
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,399
Speaker 3: those days, my aunt Shila, where Shiluaka introduces me to

388
00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 3: a medicine man who supposedly channels the spirit of Saint

389
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 3: Augustina and shakes metal keys as he goes into a

390
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,880
Speaker 3: trance to identify what's wrong with your body. Sant Augustia,

391
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,240
Speaker 3: aside for being the Sintha or enlightened soul who's supposedly

392
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,200
Speaker 3: brought the natty leaves to humans by taking dictation from

393
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,680
Speaker 3: the gods, is also a patron saint of healing. I

394
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:18,640
Speaker 3: try to go into this meeting with an open mind,

395
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,400
Speaker 3: but the healer is a character probably in his sixties,

396
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,399
Speaker 3: spry and cocky with a mischievous smile. If I was

397
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 3: trying to cast a South Asian leprechaun for an Indian

398
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,760
Speaker 3: Lucky Charms commercial, he'd be on my short list. And

399
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 3: even though his accent is unbelievably thick, like so thick

400
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 3: that I'm working overtime to understand each and every word,

401
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,439
Speaker 3: I am captivated by his experience with black magic.

402
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 13: What they do.

403
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,520
Speaker 5: I mean after power? People know they use a power.

404
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 3: As he tells it, a neighbor put a voodoo like

405
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 3: curse on him, and he kept losing weight and balding

406
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 3: and losing weight and balding, and no one could tell

407
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 3: him what was wrong with him, until when he was

408
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 3: sickly thin and had been robbed of all his glorious plumage,

409
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,320
Speaker 3: he found a talisman buried in his backyard. It was

410
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 3: wrapped in rags and hair and blood, all the telltale

411
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 3: signs of black magic. And when he burned it and

412
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,359
Speaker 3: reversed the curse, his neighbors had some of the worst

413
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,400
Speaker 3: luck ever. They lost their money, their health, even their home.

414
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,879
Speaker 3: He grins wide when he tells me about this instant karma.

415
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 3: I honestly don't know what to make of this guy.

416
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 3: On one hand, my aunt told me that after years

417
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 3: of not being able to conceive, it was this man

418
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,920
Speaker 3: who gave her the herbs and tinctures to finally carry

419
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,120
Speaker 3: a child. Her story is really powerful, and I've heard

420
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,359
Speaker 3: so many others that he's helped or cured. But he

421
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 3: also tells me with absolute certainty that Tamil is the

422
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 3: greatest language bar none, because it's the oldest, which is true,

423
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,439
Speaker 3: and the most powerful, which I don't quite understand but okay,

424
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:09,199
Speaker 3: and the most sophisticated, which I start to chuckle at

425
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,200
Speaker 3: because now there are a lot of descriptors being used,

426
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 3: and I'm sensing a real air of Tamil hubris here.

427
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,160
Speaker 3: But then he brings his argument all together by saying,

428
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 3: and this is the strangest part. It only makes sense

429
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,080
Speaker 3: that Tamil is the language that aliens communicate with.

430
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 5: But all speak Tamil. You need to come link the

431
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:35,400
Speaker 5: long type of day.

432
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 3: When I look at him quizzically, trying to understand how

433
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,640
Speaker 3: exactly we've moved from astrology to aliens, he just assures

434
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 3: me he's right. Then he smiles at me like I'm

435
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,679
Speaker 3: an idiot, because obviously aliens speak Tamil.

436
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:59,399
Speaker 7: Okay, if it's.

437
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 3: That chapter four Snake Astronauts copy.

438
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 13: This place name is Kanji. Yes, it has two thousand

439
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 13: City of Temple.

440
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, that's really.

441
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:28,040
Speaker 3: You're going to.

442
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 13: Record your six o'clock voices?

443
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:34,320
Speaker 16: Yeah?

444
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:34,600
Speaker 3: Good?

445
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,080
Speaker 5: Sorry. I think I had two of those coffee this morning.

446
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 3: At six am, and it feels so much earlier. We

447
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,400
Speaker 3: drive off the hotel lot straight into traffic, and I

448
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 3: can only tell where past the city limits when the

449
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 3: cartoon force posters disappear. Up until this point, it felt

450
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,440
Speaker 3: like every advertisement was about chess. But now the billboards

451
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:05,240
Speaker 3: are for toothpaste and soaps and clothes and wedding rings.

452
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,080
Speaker 3: And Argent and I both notice how strange it is

453
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:12,440
Speaker 3: that everyone in the ads is incredibly light skinned, and

454
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,960
Speaker 3: what a mind fuck that must be. But then I

455
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 3: stopped paying close attention. The drive starts to feel like

456
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 3: every drive I've taken between cities in India, stretches of

457
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:28,520
Speaker 3: rickety shops, stretches of vibrant villages with kids playing outside,

458
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,680
Speaker 3: long dusty in betweens, dotted with fields and factories, banks

459
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,960
Speaker 3: and petrol stations. There are these trees that line the

460
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 3: roads with red and white trunks painted that way to

461
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 3: prevent termites. And also the show poachers that the Forestry

462
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 3: Service is keeping watch. Mark and I are both healing

463
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 3: the chently. But Argent's two coffees have definitely kicked in.

464
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,000
Speaker 3: He peppers us with questions about life in the States,

465
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 3: about recent Supreme Court cases. He talks about India and

466
00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:00,840
Speaker 3: all the miracles he's witnessed that have made him a

467
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:06,120
Speaker 3: true believer, and then he says this, if.

468
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 12: You dougy hindu Vedic texts, you'll understand that there's a

469
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 12: lot of interaction between snake culture and human culture, and

470
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 12: there's a lot of snake worship that happens in India.

471
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,920
Speaker 3: Okay, so I'm going to pause right here to say

472
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 3: I don't know what's going on with all the snake talk,

473
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 3: but they keep coming up again and again, and it

474
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 3: feels like it should mean something. The way George in

475
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:41,960
Speaker 3: our last episode saw a snake as a sign that

476
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 3: he could be good to himself, that he could shed

477
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 3: his trauma and transform the way my mom experienced snakes

478
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 3: as a curse, something she had to transcend with mysterious prayers.

479
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,760
Speaker 3: And now Argin is talking about how he read early

480
00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:01,520
Speaker 3: Hindu texts about snakes as these superior carriers of a

481
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 3: greater wisdom. And he starts talking about one account you

482
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,400
Speaker 3: read from a mystic who claims to have seen these

483
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 3: astral snakes.

484
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 5: He said that his guru got him to meet one

485
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 5: of the.

486
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 12: Incoming astronauts space snake astronauts.

487
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:29,560
Speaker 7: Huh, yeah, it feels unbelievable.

488
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:34,719
Speaker 3: It's but just the idea of a snake astronaut.

489
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 13: Yeah, well, I mean like a traveler.

490
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 5: Absolutely, he doesn't.

491
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 12: Wear he didn't have to wear a space suit, and

492
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 12: when you read the book, he says, it's it's not

493
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:56,200
Speaker 12: possible for me to explain what exactly I saw, But

494
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,520
Speaker 12: the snakes are very different than what you all imagine, and.

495
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 13: And all I can describe to you is it is

496
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,000
Speaker 13: blue and glowing.

497
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 3: In my cursory understanding of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, these

498
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:17,200
Speaker 3: serpent like beings rule over three planes filled with multiple planets,

499
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 3: and they're worshiped as the keepers of both incredible treasure

500
00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,840
Speaker 3: and concealed wisdom treasure texts, as one book puts it,

501
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 3: As we drive further away from Chennai, I feel like

502
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,840
Speaker 3: they're this harbinger of what we're about to learn.

503
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 13: The snakes don't rule over Hell, they rule over a

504
00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,160
Speaker 13: different set of planets, and.

505
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 5: They're supposed to be very opulent creatures.

506
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,240
Speaker 3: Is this in this book versus a different book? Mark,

507
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:49,400
Speaker 3: who's been quiet this whole time, perks up at this

508
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,400
Speaker 3: talk of snake astronauts. He has so many questions about

509
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,320
Speaker 3: the origins and about how much Urgent could actually believe

510
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 3: in this, but he mostly just smirks and saves his

511
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 3: commentary for later.

512
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:08,320
Speaker 10: Yeah, that's that's the problem that I have with That's

513
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:13,880
Speaker 10: the issue whether or not they wear space suits. First

514
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:18,200
Speaker 10: of all, let me imagine this space suits.

515
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 3: Before long we realize where in Kanji Forum. The temple

516
00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,280
Speaker 3: town is famous for its beautiful shrines and architecture, along

517
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:32,040
Speaker 3: with its saris, which are gorgeous bolts of rich silk

518
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,560
Speaker 3: embroidered with thread dipped in gold. I sit up to

519
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,640
Speaker 3: look at the surroundings, noticing these little altars side by

520
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,800
Speaker 3: side with banana stands. All of a sudden, so these

521
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,840
Speaker 3: turns in and we pull up to one of the

522
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 3: most gorgeous temples I have ever seen. It towers over

523
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:52,920
Speaker 3: the city and I crane my neck to see where

524
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,400
Speaker 3: its crown touches the sky. I later learned it's called

525
00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 3: Akumbarra short temple. Records of its initials struck date back

526
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 3: to three hundred BCE, and it is stunning like a

527
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 3: sixty meter tall cigarette, except instead of a giant, blocky pyramid.

528
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,640
Speaker 3: It has eleven stories of relief work with intricately carved

529
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 3: pillars and depictions of myths and avatars. If the greatest

530
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,680
Speaker 3: churches and cathedrals are meant to fill you with awe,

531
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 3: to make you feel humbled in the presence of a

532
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:31,000
Speaker 3: greater beauty. Then this temple does the trick. I can't

533
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 3: wait to see the inside, to meet the temple leaf readers.

534
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,879
Speaker 3: But as soon as I try to hop out, seth

535
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 3: these motions me to stay inside. He steps out and

536
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 3: gestures and a man nearby, and the man just shakes

537
00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 3: his head. It's clear we're in the wrong place. So

538
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,320
Speaker 3: something jumps back in and then we drive.

539
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:51,719
Speaker 14: And drive.

540
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:56,000
Speaker 3: Fifteen minutes later, we're parked in this dusty lot in

541
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 3: front of a cinderblock wall that feels like it's in

542
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,560
Speaker 3: the middle of nowhere. If there wasn't this big yellow

543
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:05,600
Speaker 3: sign outside declaring that this was a house of astrology,

544
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,640
Speaker 3: I would have assumed it was a storage facility, or

545
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:13,479
Speaker 3: maybe a clinic. Whatever it is, It's No eleven story

546
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:34,000
Speaker 3: at Carved Temple. In the chapter five the Waiting Game,

547
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:40,239
Speaker 3: we swap mosquitoes and reapply repellent. We make idle conversation,

548
00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,319
Speaker 3: We look at our phones and like kids in a car,

549
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,359
Speaker 3: asking over and over, are we there yet? I walked

550
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,439
Speaker 3: from the patio into the little reception area to see

551
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,239
Speaker 3: if we can get started. Origin goes in a few

552
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:59,040
Speaker 3: times too. After a few hours of waiting, they finally

553
00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 3: take my thumbprint. Mugish Muggige, Yeah, I mean, I mean

554
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,160
Speaker 3: born in America, will follow me.

555
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:11,880
Speaker 5: My father's name is Lummish.

556
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 3: They put us in the queue and then we wait

557
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,719
Speaker 3: some more. Every ten or fifteen minutes, someone's name is called,

558
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,080
Speaker 3: and one of the men. Because it is weirdly almost

559
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,160
Speaker 3: all men here, a mix of middle aged business owners

560
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 3: and young people who look anxious to get married, they

561
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,680
Speaker 3: start disappearing inside. When it's finally our turn, we follow

562
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 3: the receptionist to the second level. Despite the thatched roof,

563
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:45,200
Speaker 3: it's actually way more modern up here and welcoming. There're

564
00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,439
Speaker 3: these sliding doors with little enclosures where people are doing

565
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,800
Speaker 3: one on ones and argin, Mark and I all squeeze

566
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 3: into a room. When our man finally walks in, he's

567
00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:00,960
Speaker 3: wearing vibithy, these three stripes across his four head, applied

568
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:04,719
Speaker 3: with sacred ash, often associated with priests. He also has

569
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,279
Speaker 3: a big pile of scrolls in his arm. Now this

570
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 3: is going to be hard to follow, but he asks

571
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 3: if I speak Tamil, and then in broken English, he

572
00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:16,880
Speaker 3: tells us he needs to find my palm leaf first.

573
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:19,720
Speaker 3: He indicates how the scrolls are like a card catalog.

574
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,879
Speaker 3: Your thumbprint helps you find your scroll. Your scroll helps

575
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,800
Speaker 3: you find your full horoscope, which is also hidden somewhere

576
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 3: in the stacks in the back.

577
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 17: I am really okay, I am reading even name father,

578
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 17: named mother, named fultater or not. To relieves the confound, our.

579
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,840
Speaker 3: Reader starts reading the tamil off the scroll. He asks,

580
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:46,200
Speaker 3: your father's dead and your mother's living. I respond yes,

581
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:48,719
Speaker 3: after I com from and I want to be a father.

582
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:49,359
Speaker 7: To merit.

583
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 3: They're looking for an exact match, the perfect card in

584
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 3: the card catalog, and each time the details of the

585
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,399
Speaker 3: scroll don't line up with my life, he slaps into

586
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,239
Speaker 3: the back of the bundle and moves on to the

587
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 3: next You were married and living with your wife. Yes,

588
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:09,839
Speaker 3: your mother had two marriages. Ever, no smack. The leaf

589
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:12,120
Speaker 3: goes into the back of the pile. Sometimes, when he

590
00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:14,320
Speaker 3: starts reading a leaf and sees it doesn't match, he

591
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,399
Speaker 3: doesn't even ask. He just moves it to the back,

592
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:20,359
Speaker 3: and this swording keeps going. He asks if I'm forty five,

593
00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,759
Speaker 3: and I just laugh. I am enjoying all of this,

594
00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,480
Speaker 3: feeling like there's real momentum, and I tell him no,

595
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,400
Speaker 3: I'm forty two. We keep going, and some of it

596
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,880
Speaker 3: gets confusing, like he asks if I have two sons,

597
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:44,520
Speaker 3: I have two children. I mean I have a son

598
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,160
Speaker 3: and one kid who's non binary. He slaps it to

599
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:49,959
Speaker 3: the back of the pile. But I'm a little dizzy,

600
00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:52,680
Speaker 3: trying to stay on top of his accent and trying

601
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:56,279
Speaker 3: to make sure I'm answering the questions correctly until he

602
00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:01,400
Speaker 3: says this, No, I have one sister nor brother and

603
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:01,920
Speaker 3: married it.

604
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 17: Yeah, yes, Marriagy by engagement yes, married living me through white, Yes,

605
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 17: another one one sister, yes, sister.

606
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:15,360
Speaker 5: Mary, unmarried it.

607
00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 17: You were married and living with the white bothered the

608
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,879
Speaker 17: mother leaving, you were in private job working.

609
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 3: And dingo, that is it. He has found it. After

610
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,160
Speaker 3: fifteen hours of being on planes, two weeks of hunting

611
00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,520
Speaker 3: through stacks in Mumbai, another hour long flight, a two

612
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:35,720
Speaker 3: hour drive, and three hours of waiting on a humid

613
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:39,960
Speaker 3: patio that would give most steam rooms an inferiority complex.

614
00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,279
Speaker 3: We see this man for twenty minutes and he just

615
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:48,280
Speaker 3: finds it. Urgent thinks I'm blessed. Mark looks more skeptical,

616
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,759
Speaker 3: and the three of us we file downstairs.

617
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:53,960
Speaker 7: That's what happens to man.

618
00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:58,759
Speaker 18: So the tough part is done, which is he had

619
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,399
Speaker 18: to be immatched. We weren't able to get him matched

620
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:06,160
Speaker 18: in Bombay. They didn't they couldn't find them. Yeah, and

621
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,320
Speaker 18: now you've got the real Now the part will be

622
00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 18: that you will be broadcasting to America your future.

623
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:18,440
Speaker 6: Ship.

624
00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:45,680
Speaker 3: Right Chapter six, Son of a Milkman. We wait outside

625
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,319
Speaker 3: a little more and then we're called in and walked

626
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:50,799
Speaker 3: through this long hallway to a room in the back

627
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:56,000
Speaker 3: which faces onto a courtyard. The complex is bigger than

628
00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:59,080
Speaker 3: I'd realized, with places to do poojas and with rooms

629
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:03,759
Speaker 3: to rent. As we sit down, mister Kumar, the same

630
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:06,800
Speaker 3: man from reception, double checks that this is the right file.

631
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:11,000
Speaker 3: He goes through some details about my thumb, that I'm

632
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:14,880
Speaker 3: a Brahmin, that I was born on May first, and

633
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,320
Speaker 3: then he reads my file.

634
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:21,080
Speaker 7: And family.

635
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:25,880
Speaker 3: I'm listening keenly, but nothing he says here is interesting.

636
00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:30,040
Speaker 3: He says, my mother may get ill, but medicines will help.

637
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,120
Speaker 3: He says, my sister's engagement has already taken place, and

638
00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:42,960
Speaker 3: in the near future she will get married the company.

639
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,919
Speaker 3: But here's the thing. While we're sitting in this room,

640
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:49,160
Speaker 3: I have one of those kaiser SoSE moments from the

641
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:53,239
Speaker 3: usual suspects. In the whole scroll section, I've given away

642
00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:57,640
Speaker 3: all my details. Is your mom's name Chitre, No, it's Lalita.

643
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:03,000
Speaker 3: Is your father living, No, he's passed. Is your sister married, Well,

644
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:07,759
Speaker 3: she's engaged. And as I realized this, everything from here

645
00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:12,160
Speaker 3: on becomes tainted, Like the predictions are so mundane. You'll

646
00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:15,360
Speaker 3: have a good life, you'll get sick, you'll have medicine

647
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:17,920
Speaker 3: and get better, your children will have a good education,

648
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 3: You'll make decent money, You'll have good relationships with others.

649
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:24,880
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just a mishmash of vague things that

650
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,480
Speaker 3: happen to everyone, and details I've already confirmed. In some ways,

651
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:36,320
Speaker 3: the most surprising thing he says is this line. I

652
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,879
Speaker 3: laugh because in some ways this is both the most

653
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,080
Speaker 3: ridiculous thing and the most specific thing about me today.

654
00:42:43,239 --> 00:42:46,200
Speaker 3: I have never had a new car or a luxurious

655
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 3: one since high school. I've just driven a series of beaters,

656
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:53,440
Speaker 3: and man, I would love a car that starts when

657
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:57,080
Speaker 3: you wanted to. Anyway, The rest of the reading is

658
00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:07,839
Speaker 3: more of the same. Is basically he's up selling us here.

659
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:10,839
Speaker 3: What I got was the starter pack. We've already paid

660
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:13,359
Speaker 3: for that part, and we put down a healthy tip

661
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 3: on top on his insistence.

662
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:21,839
Speaker 7: Take like Google pay or anything. Okay, I'll figure that out.

663
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,000
Speaker 3: And now, if I want to know more about any

664
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,960
Speaker 3: specific part of my life, the section of the leaf

665
00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:31,360
Speaker 3: that deals with my career, or my health, or my

666
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 3: kids or one of like nine more things, we will

667
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 3: need to pay more. I step outside to chat with Mark.

668
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:51,720
Speaker 7: It's confused.

669
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,680
Speaker 3: The truth is I was more than confused. I was

670
00:43:55,719 --> 00:43:59,799
Speaker 3: feeling deflated after that experience in Mumbai. We had spent

671
00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:02,800
Speaker 3: so much time trying to figure out the perfect naughty

672
00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:06,760
Speaker 3: place to visit. I'd come all this way and dragged

673
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:10,399
Speaker 3: Mark and Argin here because this is where I thought

674
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,960
Speaker 3: I had the best chance of finding my fortune, and

675
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:15,880
Speaker 3: then nothing.

676
00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:21,759
Speaker 10: It feels like kind of a bus Yeah, it's like

677
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:24,560
Speaker 10: I don't expect grand revelations every time.

678
00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:27,800
Speaker 3: There's a line I didn't catch on tape, but it

679
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:31,720
Speaker 3: stuck with me. Mark says, you already got your miracle

680
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:35,800
Speaker 3: of astrology. You can't expect a second one. You can't

681
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:41,520
Speaker 3: expect it every time. When I go back in the

682
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:45,160
Speaker 3: reader opens the chapter about my last life, he says

683
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 3: I had been born the son of a milkman in

684
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:51,439
Speaker 3: the milk business, you know, in a typical milk vendor.

685
00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:52,520
Speaker 3: Family was.

686
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 13: No just part of it.

687
00:44:58,080 --> 00:44:58,759
Speaker 5: Stirred up with you.

688
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:05,480
Speaker 3: He tells me that I slept around, and I think

689
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:11,600
Speaker 3: he's saying that I gave my wife STDs. I also

690
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,960
Speaker 3: treated my parents horribly and didn't support them. I cheated

691
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:19,280
Speaker 3: my business partners. And I am nodding vigorously and enjoying

692
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:22,600
Speaker 3: this because this part is kind of the realist to me,

693
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:25,760
Speaker 3: Like every time someone tells me they've seen a psychic

694
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:28,560
Speaker 3: or a reader and had some revelation in a dream,

695
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,200
Speaker 3: they're always a king or queen in their past life.

696
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:35,120
Speaker 3: And to me, it's like, there are not that many

697
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:38,040
Speaker 3: kings in history. How can all of us have been kings?

698
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:42,399
Speaker 3: So weirdly, this is finally a storyline I could buy

699
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:48,400
Speaker 3: into being here smiling at the story. It reminds me

700
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 3: of this thing. The writer Shrethi Ravindrin, who grew up

701
00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:55,480
Speaker 3: in Chennai, once wrote how she loves to read and

702
00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:59,560
Speaker 3: reread her horoscope because to her, it's like a very

703
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:03,440
Speaker 3: souoning work of fan fiction. And she told me about

704
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:07,960
Speaker 3: how sometimes the horoscope feels accurate and sometimes it doesn't.

705
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:11,120
Speaker 8: She will be a girl of a restless nature. She

706
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:15,280
Speaker 8: will be a girl of a self destructive timidity her moods.

707
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:18,640
Speaker 3: But if she puts it during times of upheaval, it

708
00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:22,080
Speaker 3: reassures me to read these typewritten pages, to be reminded

709
00:46:22,200 --> 00:46:24,920
Speaker 3: that one long dead man took the measure of my

710
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 3: life and said it was not all bad.

711
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:30,120
Speaker 8: She will brood over the memories of the past. She

712
00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 8: will brood on fancied slight, very unflattering, but also like

713
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:38,800
Speaker 8: really specific, and I'm afraid to say, like super accurate.

714
00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:42,080
Speaker 3: I do love this Milkman stuff, not because I believe it,

715
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,839
Speaker 3: but because I love that someone has created a new

716
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:49,160
Speaker 3: mythology for me, a new origin story for the problems

717
00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:53,399
Speaker 3: I'm facing, And now they've given me a new way

718
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:58,080
Speaker 3: to remedy those problems too, albeit through a few too

719
00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:02,920
Speaker 3: many visits to temples for my liking. Still it is

720
00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 3: pure fun, But when I think about it later, it

721
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:11,480
Speaker 3: won't scratch the itch I actually have, Because, like Shriti,

722
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:14,439
Speaker 3: I wanted to walk into the shop and let someone

723
00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:16,719
Speaker 3: take the measure of my life. I'd hope that they

724
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:19,640
Speaker 3: would find my leaf and look into my eyes and

725
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:23,840
Speaker 3: with complete certainty tell me that my life wouldn't be

726
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,520
Speaker 3: all bad. And although I made the journey here, and

727
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 3: although those words were said in the end, I just

728
00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:48,320
Speaker 3: couldn't believe them. Chapter seven, spinning its to be thirty

729
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:52,040
Speaker 3: in the morning. I cut tafteen and stuck in stot anyone.

730
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:58,279
Speaker 5: I'm curiously the demon's walking in my head.

731
00:47:58,360 --> 00:47:59,280
Speaker 3: I can't do shleep.

732
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:02,440
Speaker 5: I've gotta go back to sleep.

733
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:04,600
Speaker 3: Right now.

734
00:48:04,719 --> 00:48:06,040
Speaker 5: Let him make this as a statement.

735
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,040
Speaker 3: The drive home from the Naughty Shop is somehow so long,

736
00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:14,480
Speaker 3: and I feel the clock ticking. We have maybe five

737
00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:17,040
Speaker 3: days left on this trip, and I have not felt

738
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:20,440
Speaker 3: the magic here. Nothing has brought me closer to believing.

739
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:26,000
Speaker 3: Margin senses my tension Mark too. I tell Mark, maybe

740
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:28,759
Speaker 3: we should raise the Varnasi in northern India, even though

741
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:31,200
Speaker 3: my astrologer friend he warned me it was like a

742
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:32,520
Speaker 3: Disneyland of astrology.

743
00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:34,480
Speaker 5: If we wanted to do some main totals. When we

744
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:36,759
Speaker 5: hit that, you could actually like.

745
00:48:38,719 --> 00:48:42,880
Speaker 15: This and fly to like the knives.

746
00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:47,080
Speaker 3: There's a university there and a lot of astrology PhDs

747
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:50,440
Speaker 3: and also con men, so maybe there's some fun to

748
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:52,880
Speaker 3: be had. Or we could do what the Nadi reader

749
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:54,879
Speaker 3: told me to do for penance for my sins. As

750
00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:57,680
Speaker 3: a milkman, I could go to an offering at a

751
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,759
Speaker 3: Hanuman temple, and I have a specific like one in mind.

752
00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:03,520
Speaker 7: My aunt and family.

753
00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:06,600
Speaker 3: Lived in this place, and hopefully that's where my grandfather

754
00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:08,719
Speaker 3: finds high through The.

755
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:09,799
Speaker 7: House is called gin house.

756
00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 3: I don't know. I mean, I am just throwing ideas

757
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,400
Speaker 3: at the wall. We stopped for lunch at this place.

758
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:19,760
Speaker 3: Our drivers at these shloves where they serve giant heaping

759
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:23,400
Speaker 3: plates of rice on banana leaves with curries and chutneys

760
00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:26,640
Speaker 3: ladled on top. We eat with our hands in the

761
00:49:26,719 --> 00:49:30,080
Speaker 3: traditional style, shoveling the piping hot food into our mouths.

762
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,920
Speaker 3: I paaramine with the thumbs up an Indian coke of sorts,

763
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:37,879
Speaker 3: And while the food fills our bellies, it doesn't calm

764
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:42,560
Speaker 3: my nerves, and I grow increasingly irritated about my journey

765
00:49:42,640 --> 00:49:47,800
Speaker 3: to the naughty Shop. A few days later, when I

766
00:49:47,840 --> 00:49:50,960
Speaker 3: start reviewing my tape, I realize I've missed a crucial detail.

767
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:55,319
Speaker 3: A woman i'd interviewed previously named Malti Das had walked

768
00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:58,480
Speaker 3: into a naughty shop a skeptic and walked out a believer,

769
00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:01,640
Speaker 3: not because of what she heard from the reader exactly,

770
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:04,400
Speaker 3: but because of what she saw, I.

771
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:07,839
Speaker 6: Was looking very disinterested. So that man asked me, man,

772
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:10,120
Speaker 6: can you read tamb It? I said, yes, very well,

773
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:13,520
Speaker 6: I can read tamb It. Then he started showing the

774
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:18,120
Speaker 6: falm leave to me up to a point. Then he said,

775
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:21,960
Speaker 6: that's your father's name start with A. They said yes,

776
00:50:22,719 --> 00:50:25,360
Speaker 6: and then I could see the name written there of

777
00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:29,960
Speaker 6: my mother in law, Arakiaswami in devil. That was when

778
00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:32,279
Speaker 6: it hit me, really, you know, I thought, Okay, there

779
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:33,000
Speaker 6: is something here.

780
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:33,880
Speaker 1: They're not bluffing.

781
00:50:34,480 --> 00:50:37,719
Speaker 3: Then I feel like an idiot. I hadn't thought to

782
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:40,279
Speaker 3: photograph my leaf. I mean, I don't know if they

783
00:50:40,320 --> 00:50:42,800
Speaker 3: would have let me, but maybe there was a miracle

784
00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:47,080
Speaker 3: lurking in there. Not in the prophecy, which I thought

785
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:51,000
Speaker 3: was so vague, but in the sorting system. Was there

786
00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:55,439
Speaker 3: something beautiful I had missed? When Mark and I talked

787
00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:58,759
Speaker 3: about it later at our hotel bar, Mark is a

788
00:50:58,800 --> 00:50:59,960
Speaker 3: different perspective on the play.

789
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:04,480
Speaker 7: It's basically like a magic trek that we couldn't.

790
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:06,719
Speaker 3: See the word video.

791
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:09,400
Speaker 7: Yeah, it was like hearing it was like hearing a

792
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:10,000
Speaker 7: magic trek.

793
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:12,359
Speaker 3: As he puts it, it doesn't matter if it's real

794
00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:15,840
Speaker 3: because the shop is in the business of hope. And

795
00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:18,160
Speaker 3: I think about how he's right, Like, there's so many

796
00:51:18,239 --> 00:51:22,120
Speaker 3: people that come in such desperate situations, right, Like if

797
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:24,480
Speaker 3: you hear you're like gonna have a comfortable life, You're

798
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:26,560
Speaker 3: gonna get a new car, and you're gonna like, you.

799
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:29,600
Speaker 10: Know, like four years watch her out.

800
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:33,480
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean like like that probably like sustains a.

801
00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:37,239
Speaker 10: Lot of people, right, that would be such a big

802
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:38,880
Speaker 10: deal to a certain kind of person.

803
00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:53,920
Speaker 3: Chapter eight, Double Dose. Months later, my memories of Chennai

804
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:59,200
Speaker 3: are blur early morning, strong coffee, ceiling fans that are

805
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:03,359
Speaker 3: no match for the heat. But mostly it's just car ride.

806
00:52:04,239 --> 00:52:07,400
Speaker 3: Hours in the car with Argin, talking about philosophy and

807
00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:11,160
Speaker 3: science and our childhoods, the moments we were too proud,

808
00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:15,000
Speaker 3: the moments that humbled us, and how we got here.

809
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:18,719
Speaker 3: If Bombay felt like an old friend whose path had

810
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:21,359
Speaker 3: diverged from my own, then Argin was like a close

811
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:27,160
Speaker 3: friend I'd lost and then found again. And it's funny

812
00:52:27,239 --> 00:52:30,080
Speaker 3: that he's here with me because I'd forgotten that Argin

813
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:32,279
Speaker 3: had been warned by his Guru that he should not,

814
00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:36,360
Speaker 3: at any cost dabble in astrology. Something I'm reminded of

815
00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:42,640
Speaker 3: when my wife Lizzie calls Lilie, wait, he'll for your Answergra.

816
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:47,640
Speaker 13: Well, he here is my brother at the end of

817
00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:50,359
Speaker 13: the day, and I wasn't going to abandon him.

818
00:52:51,120 --> 00:52:54,920
Speaker 3: But there's a phrase I grew up using in India

819
00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:59,319
Speaker 3: cousin brother and cousin sister. In joint families. You grew

820
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:02,280
Speaker 3: up thinking of your cousins as closer than just a cousin.

821
00:53:03,239 --> 00:53:06,320
Speaker 3: You tie rocky to them or these promised threads that

822
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:10,360
Speaker 3: promise love and protection, and you treat your cousins like

823
00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:14,239
Speaker 3: their siblings because they are in a way. And the

824
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:17,400
Speaker 3: fact that Argin is here with me now, despite the

825
00:53:17,520 --> 00:53:20,760
Speaker 3: oceans between us, despite the time that's past.

826
00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:24,759
Speaker 9: But having said that, this is my first experience with

827
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:28,520
Speaker 9: astrology as well, so I was actually warned not to

828
00:53:28,680 --> 00:53:29,880
Speaker 9: dabble in these kind of.

829
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:32,880
Speaker 13: Subjects.

830
00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:38,759
Speaker 5: Is subjecting you to things you've been.

831
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:42,840
Speaker 13: Avoid it just you know, venting you with yeah, tending

832
00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:44,080
Speaker 13: you with taboo subjects.

833
00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:45,799
Speaker 5: Shame, shame, that's right.

834
00:53:45,960 --> 00:53:47,719
Speaker 13: He's the bad influence in my life.

835
00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:50,480
Speaker 3: Argin has told me what he's been through, but I

836
00:53:50,600 --> 00:53:54,840
Speaker 3: can't imagine it. It is too horrifying. And I admire

837
00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:58,240
Speaker 3: him so much, how he somehow pulled together his family

838
00:53:58,360 --> 00:54:01,600
Speaker 3: and picked up the shards of his life, and how

839
00:54:01,640 --> 00:54:07,080
Speaker 3: he keeps moving forward with such grace and humility. If

840
00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:09,760
Speaker 3: my days in Chennai were a blur of endless car rides,

841
00:54:10,120 --> 00:54:12,520
Speaker 3: the final pit stops were always a seat at the

842
00:54:12,600 --> 00:54:16,480
Speaker 3: hotel bar. Sometimes it was me and Mark, sometimes it

843
00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:19,160
Speaker 3: was Argin and me, and occasionally it was the three

844
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:23,080
Speaker 3: of us sitting in a dimly lit patio, chewing away

845
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:28,400
Speaker 3: mosquitoes as we sit on these fresh lime sodas. On

846
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:30,600
Speaker 3: the tougher days, I'd cut the soda with gin and

847
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:34,239
Speaker 3: bumb a cigarette off of Virgin. And on one of

848
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:37,800
Speaker 3: those nights, Argin told us about his sud Sati, the

849
00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:40,279
Speaker 3: seven and a half years of bad luck brought on

850
00:54:40,440 --> 00:54:44,200
Speaker 3: by Saturn that everyone experiences at some point according to

851
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:47,399
Speaker 3: Vade the Astrology, and his seven and a half years.

852
00:54:47,560 --> 00:54:50,719
Speaker 3: He tells us, we're considered especially bad.

853
00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:56,680
Speaker 16: Oh well, I experienced a double sub sorty almost and

854
00:54:57,680 --> 00:55:01,360
Speaker 16: mine pretty much game to s So I've had really

855
00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:04,160
Speaker 16: shit luckily, really shit lucky.

856
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:08,600
Speaker 3: Until this moment, Argin has never once talked about how

857
00:55:08,680 --> 00:55:11,480
Speaker 3: difficult this period has been. He's talked about it matter

858
00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:15,440
Speaker 3: of factly he's talked about embracing the future, but this

859
00:55:15,600 --> 00:55:18,239
Speaker 3: is the first time he lets us in on just

860
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:20,480
Speaker 3: how hard his life one but my.

861
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:25,760
Speaker 16: Name DA last year and I'm still trying to understand

862
00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:31,000
Speaker 16: the difference, the difference. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out

863
00:55:31,040 --> 00:55:33,160
Speaker 16: what went right, and I know there are certain things

864
00:55:33,239 --> 00:55:37,480
Speaker 16: that have changed, but I can't. I can't feel it

865
00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:39,000
Speaker 16: in a physical form.

866
00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:40,600
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's crazy.

867
00:55:40,640 --> 00:55:44,399
Speaker 3: I didn't really because this is India. Argent jokingly links

868
00:55:44,440 --> 00:55:47,200
Speaker 3: his misfortune back to what he must have done in

869
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:48,120
Speaker 3: his past lives.

870
00:55:49,600 --> 00:55:52,120
Speaker 13: I obviously that much more than this pass against.

871
00:55:54,360 --> 00:55:57,880
Speaker 3: I mean, Argin does not believe in astrology. I never

872
00:55:57,960 --> 00:56:01,200
Speaker 3: asked him to get a reading, but trology has happened

873
00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:03,879
Speaker 3: to him. The shadow of that seven and a half

874
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:07,160
Speaker 3: years of bad luck. It's been lurking in the back

875
00:56:07,239 --> 00:56:11,279
Speaker 3: of his mind. There's another moment that I can't stop

876
00:56:11,320 --> 00:56:14,440
Speaker 3: thinking about. From the bar, after I'd turned off my recorder,

877
00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:19,399
Speaker 3: Mark says that too often when a story isn't going right,

878
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:22,719
Speaker 3: the impulse is to speed up to book as many

879
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:27,120
Speaker 3: interviews as you can. It's that old sailor's adage. If

880
00:56:27,160 --> 00:56:29,640
Speaker 3: you can't tie a good knot tie a lot of them,

881
00:56:31,040 --> 00:56:33,960
Speaker 3: but Mark encourages the opposite. He says, I need to

882
00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:37,000
Speaker 3: slow down. He says, if I'm going to resolve anything

883
00:56:37,040 --> 00:56:40,919
Speaker 3: about my life about my dad, it is not going

884
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:43,800
Speaker 3: to be with him or our June, and it's not

885
00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:47,560
Speaker 3: going to be through astrology. Astrology was never the point.

886
00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:51,080
Speaker 3: And he tells me to make a pilgrimage to where

887
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:55,360
Speaker 3: I feel most connected to my family and to my past,

888
00:56:57,040 --> 00:57:01,200
Speaker 3: to just sit with that experience. And I think about that.

889
00:57:02,280 --> 00:57:08,719
Speaker 3: I really do, but I don't listen because I'm not

890
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:11,919
Speaker 3: thinking clearly. I haven't been thinking clearly this whole time,

891
00:57:12,080 --> 00:57:17,080
Speaker 3: this whole show. Instead, I asked Sathige to race me

892
00:57:17,200 --> 00:57:21,520
Speaker 3: across the state. I drag ardin along, I collect interviews

893
00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:33,400
Speaker 3: that will not add up too much, and then just

894
00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:37,400
Speaker 3: when my time in India is nearly up, I realize

895
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:40,560
Speaker 3: Mark is right, and I spend sixteen hours in a

896
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:44,640
Speaker 3: car to find meaning where I should have been looking

897
00:57:44,840 --> 00:58:11,360
Speaker 3: all along. Thank you so much for not forgetting about

898
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:14,640
Speaker 3: our little show. Skyline Drive is a production of Kaleidoscope

899
00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:18,280
Speaker 3: and iHeart Podcast. This show is hosted and written by

900
00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:22,160
Speaker 3: me Mongay Schatigur. And yes, I know this episode was

901
00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:24,840
Speaker 3: so long, but I'm about to make it longer with

902
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:28,280
Speaker 3: these credits. Mary Full of Sandy is our supervising producer.

903
00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:30,160
Speaker 7: How would we get the show out without Mary?

904
00:58:30,360 --> 00:58:34,440
Speaker 3: The answer is we would not. Meetropanshahi is our delightful

905
00:58:34,520 --> 00:58:37,960
Speaker 3: producer and conducted the interview with Shirty. Mark Lotto is

906
00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:41,040
Speaker 3: my excellent story editor and was such a trooper for

907
00:58:41,160 --> 00:58:43,400
Speaker 3: suffering with me in India in a city I knew

908
00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:47,280
Speaker 3: nothing about, though I did feed him lots of paratas.

909
00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:51,440
Speaker 3: This episode was also produced by the insanely talented Anna Rubinova.

910
00:58:51,720 --> 00:58:53,120
Speaker 3: I don't know how we could have got through this

911
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:55,880
Speaker 3: much tape without her. Anna, you were a boon to

912
00:58:55,960 --> 00:58:59,320
Speaker 3: the show. The super sweet Drove Chevarrau hit the streets

913
00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:01,800
Speaker 3: for this episode and collected extra tape for me. This

914
00:59:01,960 --> 00:59:05,120
Speaker 3: episode was mixed by my pal at Soundboard. Oh my

915
00:59:05,160 --> 00:59:08,240
Speaker 3: gosh the Warning. The warning was read by producer extraordinaire

916
00:59:08,400 --> 00:59:12,920
Speaker 3: Nadia Raymond, who won the first ever Audio Pulitzer along

917
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:16,240
Speaker 3: with the team at This American Life. Nadia wants you

918
00:59:16,320 --> 00:59:19,040
Speaker 3: to listen to TL's next episode, but I want you

919
00:59:19,120 --> 00:59:21,280
Speaker 3: to know she's a badass. I've got to thank my

920
00:59:21,400 --> 00:59:24,040
Speaker 3: pal Botany for the theme song and the compositions. Also

921
00:59:24,320 --> 00:59:27,800
Speaker 3: Azadi Records. How can I thank Azadi enough? Also my

922
00:59:27,920 --> 00:59:32,400
Speaker 3: friends Himanshu Suri, Peter, Matthew Bauer and Motor Sails. And

923
00:59:32,480 --> 00:59:35,800
Speaker 3: I can't forget my Palavage aka Lush Life for lending

924
00:59:35,880 --> 00:59:39,400
Speaker 3: me his tunes as well. I am dropping a second

925
00:59:39,480 --> 00:59:43,560
Speaker 3: mixtape with more music from Skyline Drive Volume two. It'll

926
00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:46,400
Speaker 3: be in the show links, please go check it out.

927
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:50,240
Speaker 3: Additional production and research support for my love Lizzie Jacobs,

928
00:59:50,480 --> 00:59:54,200
Speaker 3: Someone Rock around the Clock, Buckshie and my beautiful cousin

929
00:59:54,440 --> 00:59:56,120
Speaker 3: Arjin Buckshi Arjun.

930
00:59:55,960 --> 00:59:56,560
Speaker 5: I love you.

931
00:59:57,320 --> 01:00:00,640
Speaker 3: This show is executive produced from iHeart, My Good Palace,

932
01:00:00,720 --> 01:00:03,640
Speaker 3: Nikki Etour and Katrina Norvel and a shout out to

933
01:00:03,920 --> 01:00:07,960
Speaker 3: Nikki's baby girl Pearl and also Enzo Enzo, I have

934
01:00:08,200 --> 01:00:11,120
Speaker 3: not forgotten about you, buddy. Also got to thank my

935
01:00:11,240 --> 01:00:16,120
Speaker 3: incredible partners from Kaleidoscope, Oswad Listen, Kate Osborne, Costos Linos,

936
01:00:16,480 --> 01:00:21,200
Speaker 3: Vahini Shouri. You inspire me every day Special thanks to Ali,

937
01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:25,080
Speaker 3: Nathan Connell, Will and Bob at iHeart for getting behind

938
01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:28,720
Speaker 3: the show, Barkley Sorrow Vinshanta, my Kiddos, Henry and Ruby

939
01:00:29,080 --> 01:00:33,840
Speaker 3: my family everywhere, and as always, a big big thank

940
01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:37,640
Speaker 3: you to my Amma and my dad, Lalita and Umesh particular,

941
01:00:37,920 --> 01:00:41,560
Speaker 3: who I thank my lucky stars for. We have one

942
01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:45,080
Speaker 3: more episode to go, so thank you so much for listening.

943
01:00:45,800 --> 01:00:47,720
Speaker 3: He can't tell you how much it means to me

944
01:01:00,840 --> 01:01:13,120
Speaker 3: to start