Brief personal details:
Born and brought up in Gurgaon (India), I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in arts from Punjab University and my MBA from Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (IGNOU). I have three brothers and three sisters. My wife is Chander Kiran Choudhry who has a Masters Degree in Sanskrit. I am blessed with a son, K Rajesh Chaudhary. Rajesh is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India with an MBA from IGNOU, and above all he is an author and astrologer. Rajesh is married to Tanisha and is blessed with a son (Vishnu Kant) and a daughter (Vrinda). I joined a spiritual organization in my childhood with my father at the age of 10 years. This organization aimed at preaching the teachings of Ramayana for peace, spiritual attainment and universal brotherhood.
Brief professional details before entering the field of Astrology.
While working in an international marketing company in the public sector, I was posted to Calcutta for two years in 1983, where I entered into the field of astrology. I took voluntary retirement in 2001 to devote full time to teaching and practicing astrology. At the time, I was working as a Chief Marketing Manager with a bright future and had eleven years to go before my actual retirement date. Since my voluntary retirement, revised editions for all of my ten astrology books have already been released. A new Book, 'Planets & Children' was also published. Now, besides helping learners on SATVA, SATVA101 & SAMVA Groups at Yahoo Groups, I practice as a professional astrologer.
How I came in contact with astrology:
As mentioned previously, in 1983 I was posted to Calcutta for two years. On 27th May, 1984, another gentleman, Mr. Gola from Delhi was also posted to Calcutta. He and I both resided in the transferee Managers’ accommodations. He was a palmist and in the advanced stages of learning classical astrology. One evening when Mr. Gola was taking a walk with me by the side of a lake, he told me that he was an astrologer and not only would he read my chart but also teach me astrology. I told him I had no interest in astrology and that during the times of our walks together he should not talk about this subject with me. My impression of astrology at the time was due to astrologers who practiced their profession without deeply studying the knowledge; most of the time their predictions did not come true.
Time passed and in Mr. Gola’s company I slowly started to think that there might be some merit in this knowledge if it is studied thoroughly. I had a great interest in spirituality and its exceptional reading materials along with visiting temples, but not in astrology. I never told Mr. Gola that I was becoming interested in exploring the learning of astrology. He was looking for assistance as the astrological calculations in those days were very time consuming. There was no support at the time from computers and astrological software programs. He tried some people but could not get a suitable person.
On 1st January, 1985, Mr. Gola came to my office and handed over to me a new diary for the year 1985. He asked me to write on the first page. I thought he wanted something written for his own use. Then after starting with the recitation of the mantra for Lord Ganesha he dictated to me information about the rasis (zodiac sign), houses, planets and planetary periods (dasa). He told me that since I was involved in spiritual pursuits I should learn astrology as well; this knowledge was a related field and would enable me to help numerous people in life. So, the dictation was my first lesson for learning astrology. I accepted and started learning.
Early learning and practicing training:
I started learning through the books available at the time on classical astrology and studied for about 6 hours on weekdays and approximately 12 hours on Sundays and holidays. In six months I had a good grasp of the fundamentals and predictive techniques through both yogas and dasa results.
In July, 1985 a gentleman, Mr. Chatterjee (born 10th August, 1947, 2300 Hrs. 88E29, 22N49, TZ 5.30 Hours), came to our residence to meet Mr. Gola but he was not available. Mr. Chatterjee asked if I would read his chart. He wanted to know whether or not he would qualify as a chartered accountant in the examinations held in June. I told Mr. Chatterjee that he would not qualify in June but could succeed the next time the test was given if he performed some suggested astral remedies.
After my reading of his chart Mr. Chatterjee produced a written prediction from Mr. Gola which stated that he would pass in the June examination. He then wanted to know my reply in the face of the written prediction by Mr. Gola. I replied that I still stood by my prediction and shortly he would know the results. The difference in our predictions was due to the unclear principles of classical astrology.
The gentleman failed the exam in June. He passed the exam in the next attempt as I had predicted along with the help of my recommended jyotish remedies. This exam given in India is a very difficult one to pass and qualify as a Chartered Accountant; less than 1 person in thousands succeeds in qualifying.
Thereafter Mr. Gola started involving me in all the astrological consultations held by him in Calcutta.
Maybe sometime I will write about these Calcutta consultations in more detail.
The same Mr. Chatterjee visited with me some years after this incident and together we traveled down memory lane refreshing our recollections of the past event. It was after this visit that I thought of sharing the various milestones of my Astrological Journey with my readers.
My increasing interest for the deep study of astrology impelled me to go into the classical studies of Parasara system, Kalidasa’s Uttarakalamrit, Jamini Sutras, Brihat Jatak, Phaladipika, etc., etc.
After my return to Gurgaon in 1986, Dr. Mrs. Kaushalaya Batra, a Gynecologist, showed deep interest in learning astrology. Teaching her brought rich experiences to me for case studies pertaining to chronic patients, retarded children and prime sterility.
Then in 1987 a friend introduced me to another classical astrologer, Mr. Gupta, who was residing near my residence in Gurgaon. Mr. Gupta brought to my notice the book, New Techniques of Predictions by Mr. Sheshadari from where I got a wider view of the Divisional charts. Because of the confusions, contradictions and inconsistencies in various classical principles many scholars were exploring various techniques. Besides Mr. Sheshadri, I was also introduced to the work of Mr. Krishnamurthy. Mr. Gupta suggested that I should write articles for astrological journals. Our co-written first article as a debate appeared in Astrological Magazine around October, 1987.
In 1986, a few months after I had left Calcutta, Mr. Gola returned to Delhi and started teaching at Bhartia Vidya Bhavan in the classes organized by the Indian Council of Astrological Studies (ICAS). He also suggested to me that I should write articles as I was raising thought provoking issues along with my continuing to gain tremendous practical experience through many astrological consultations.
I wrote many articles for various astrological journals which were followed by my first published book, How to Study Divisional Charts. Later on Mr. Gola persuaded me to teach the subject of Divisional Charts at Bhartia Vidya Bhavan.
While teaching at Bhartia Vidya Bhavan I met Shri R. K. Chadha and his wife, Dr. Mrs. Suman Chadha who also had a great interest in astrology. The proximity of our offices resulted in frequent meetings almost daily in which Shri Chadha brought up problematic charts. The application of astral remedies for the people coming for consultations especially through Dr. Mrs. Chadha, Dr. Mrs. Batra and Shri Chadha and their feedback later became the real backbone for the SA remedial measures of astrology.
In 1990 ICAS started holding weekly consultations clinics in Delhi. Participation in the consultations brought me into contact with another person, Shri Kumar Jhuraney, who was deeply interested in the astral remedies.
The readers gave a warm response to my first book, How to Study Divisional Charts, and I started receiving communications from throughout the English speaking countries of the world. This interaction brought queries from the learners and astrologers regarding the existing missing links, controversies, confusions about conjunctions, combustion, sade sati, manglik dosha, the functional nature of planets, etc. etc.
Studying astrology and trying to share knowledge with those interested became my passion. The study of cases that were brought to me by others helped my learning further which eventually resulted into developing the Systems' Approach (SA) and the publication of ten more books. These books are continuously being updated in order to keep those following the SA technique current with their predicting skills.
At one stage an astrologer told me that by educating others I created competitors for myself. My reply was that there are so many sufferers in the world I alone would never be able to offer personal service to them all. So, I developed the Self Learning Course in Astrology as a long-distant learning program.
One astrological journal, after running for many decades could not survive due to the lack of making available the principles necessary for understanding of planetary influences. There are publishers, book sellers & modern authors who have felt threatened in that they would find it difficult to sell their own products in the long run with SA principles making things clear to people deeply interested in astrology. This situation started right from early 1995. However, those who want to remain clinging to the confusing material; they are welcome to continue to do so.
In 1996 Mr. Prafulla Gang and Mr. Sharma presented salient features of Systems’ Approach on Jyotish list (an Internet site). Many persons became keenly interested and started following SA. At Jyotish list I developed close associations with Mr. David Hawthorne, Mr. Thor, Ms. Mary Ann Cooke, Mr. Sateesh Batas, Mr. Brian Conrad and many others.
Thereafter a separate group for SA studies was set up through Yahoo Groups on the Internet. SA continues to be discussed and learned world-wide through the SATVA, SATVA101 and SAMVA chat groups which can be found at the Yahoo Groups online link. The software Jyotish Tools created by Mr. Brian Conrad also became an integral part of learning SA astrology.
At SATVA, SATVA101 and SAMVA groups I have come into contact with many more people. Noteworthy of these are Dr. Jonathan Miller, Mr. Jo Cohen, Dr. Sankara Bhagvadapad, Mr. Satya Gopal Kalluri, Mr. Nicholas Charles Francis, Mr. Remi Penniset, Mr. Ravinder Chunodkar, Mr. Francis de Cruz, Mr. Piotr Tomiac, Mr. Jorge Angelino, Ms Francesca Ates, Dr. Shayn Smith, Ms. Branka Bjelajac, Mr. Amit Patnaik, Mr. Jean Bianchi and Mr. Vaidun Vidyadhar.
Between 1989 to 1996 my work was recognized by various astrological organizations in India including: the Indian Council of Astrological Sciences - ICAS, Madras; Bharat Nirman, Astro Sciences Research Organization, New Delhi; International Council of Astrological and Occult Studies, Hyderabad; and the International Institute of Astrology & Occultism, New Delhi.
A degree and several titles have been conferred upon me, including: the degree of Doctor of Alternative Medical Sciences by the Board of Directors of International Council of Alternative Medicines; the title of Dharam Yogi by the International Foundation of Peace, Fraternity and Humanistics, Bombay, in 1995; the title of Vastu Shastra Samrat by the International Council of Astrological Sciences, Bombay, in 1996; and the title of Sthapatya Ratna by the Bhartiya Ved Jyotish Vigyan Sansthan, Modinagar (India) in 1996, for valuable contributions in the fields of Astrology and Vastu Shastra.
In 1999 I participated in astrological conferences in London, Paris and U.S.A.
To further the cause of predictive astrology the International Institute of Predictive Astrology (IIPA) - www.iipa.net had been established. The first International Conference of IIPA members took place in September, 1999, in Fairfield, USA.
A controversy arose among some of SA followers. I will not divulge the names of these individuals, as they are honourable people and also to keep away more controversy. Some have parted ways from the SA due to misunderstandings.
Let me delve more deeply into the matter of the misunderstandings. I received some unappreciated comments against one of the followers of SA. My resolution was not to humiliate the person in front of the other members, but rather to give a general message through my presentation regarding the Pearls of Wisdom.
The person I was directing the message at got my cue and tried to mend his ways. But unfortunately, another member thought that the message was for him and developed a misunderstanding with me. He never thought of seeking clarification from me. Later, through some correspondence, I was able to identify the reason for the estrangement of the said person. Anyway, I still admire the positive characteristics of these good people and especially the followers of the SA.
I also conducted a workshop for the British Association of Vedic Astrologers in a conference organized by them in the UK in September, 1999. The official book seller was out of stock for my books in just half an hour after my lecture. He contacted me and asked for the books I was carrying with me. I gave him 20 books of different titles. Many of the other speakers who were authors ended up sitting in the book selling area after their own lectures in order to help to market their books.
The Manager of the Recording Company, which recorded and made available the lectures to the audience, told me that the company had covered their expenses only through the sales of recordings of my lectures. For most of the lectures by other speakers, it was reported to me that they could not sell even one tape.
Many times, people seek my recommendation for non-SA books. I am sure nobody can afford to waste time on reading non-SA books which are just making the same presentations. We have to take the matter further and proceed onward from a stage which has already been achieved. It is not necessary that each and every reader of my books must start from the beginning again.
For example, we all have travelled in airplanes made by others. Suppose we decide that we will make an airplane for ourselves and only then will we fly; well then it is our own choice. But wise people will make use of the work already done by others.
