BENGALURU : As the owner of an interior designing firm, Lakshmi Shetty* began to feel the jitters during the extended lockdown. Stress and anxiety about her venture led to chakra and group healing sessions, which helped calm her down. Admittedly, Shetty was not someone who had turned to such practices prior to the lockdown, owing to lack of time, but the pandemic was leading to various thoughts and fears. “I started worrying about the future of my business, especially since I work with blue-collar workers who were migrating,” says Shetty.
Job worries, financial concerns, marital woes... these are some issues topmost in the minds of Bengalureans. Unable to find a clear cut answer, many of them are looking at healers like tarot card readers for help. At a time when many feel they are facing the unknown, therapies like the Bach Flower Therapy, an English method thought to help balance emotional state; reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation; and Emotional Freedom Techniques, which draw from various theories of alternative medicine, including acupuncture, neuro-linguistic programming, energy medicine; are also being opted for. “Most of my clients are in the age group of 16-45 years, with many of them being students,” says Mridula Nair, an EFT practitioner.
With a lot of time on hand during the lockdown, Prateek Mehta* (31) found questions of his life gnawing at him. “I suddenly started worrying whether my work was being appreciated, and that brought on other issues. At this point in time with lay-offs, I was worried about that as well,” says Mehta, who works for a mutual funds firm. He then went in for 5-D healing and a tarot session, something he was trying for the first time.
Ever since the lockdown, numerologist Sheelaa M Bajaj has found herself flooded with requests from worried Bengalureans. “There’s a lot of uncertainty, especially in the job market. People are worried if they will continue to hold a job. With the lockdown having brought the economy to a standstill, there are also financial worries. At the same time, with couples locked in, there’s bickering in relationships too,” she says, adding that many clients have even been requesting for lighting of candles. “Many of them have also been opting to meditate to calm themselves down and stay positive in these times,” Bajaj adds. “There has been a sudden spike in requests,” says the founder of SMB Mystix.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Revathy Krishnakumar, an angel tarot card reader, is noticing that as well. “People want to know if their business is safe, whether they can start a new venture or the fate of existing projects. To sum it up, there’s a lot of confusion,” says Krishnakumar who has also been getting requests for readings from Indians in foreign countries. (*Names changed on request)