In A small bedroom decorat­ed with Disney characters, Nagaratna Gopalan tries to explain how he managed to work the moon, the sun and the stars onto a computer disk.
But before he can demon­strate how this program works, Gopalan, 64, wants to make sure a visitor understands the significance of astrology, as­tronomy and almanacs in Hindu religion and culture.
"What I'm about to show you is older than the science of as­tronomy," Gopalan says dra­matically as he starts describ­ing ancient astrological customs in India. "Before there was even a name for it, people were looking at the sky and calculat­ing the future based on the loca­tions of the moon and sun and stars."
For centuries, he says, Hin­dus have relied on astrology to determine "auspicious days" ­times deemed ideal for festi­vals, starting projects, harvests, marriages and other special or sacred occasions. In fact, ar­ranged marriages almost al­ways involve astrological com­patibility tests, Gopalan ex­plains.
In India, people seek the ex­pertise of highly respected pun­dit, usually a Hindu Brahman priest but sometimes a village scholar. The pundit relies on an almanac and his knowledge of Vedic astrology - an astrology that incorporates the use of the Vedas, the sacred texts of Hin­duism that contain metaphysi­cal discussions, interpretations of stars and horoscopes as well as instructions on how to live. Naturally, a pundit's reputation depends on his accuracy in foretelling the future.
Enter "Panchaang."
It's the name of the software program created by Gopalan in his son's Fremont house. Pri­marily intended to introduce a cultural tradition to young Indi­an-Americans and American Hindus, Panchaang doesn't quite take the place of a living, , breathing pundit, but it does provide geographically relevant almanac information, a list of all m8jor Indian festivals and religious holidays, and individ­ual horoscopes.
Mathematical astrology com- putations that might take a pundit hours. are provided in seconds. Plugging in the date, time and place of birth, "Pan?chaang" (which means alma?nac) compiles horoscopes and determines the compatibility of two people. "What this program does is put complex calculations into a computer, bringing this knowl?edge to the fingertips of the common person," says Gopalan, a mathematician and former surveyor for the Indian govern?ment who taught himself how to program computers. Sudha Sreenivasan, a soft?ware engineer, bought the pro?gram about four months ago. "I'm not a heavy-duty astrol?ogy person, but I was interested in the cultural aspect of it," said the Fremont resident who uses it mostly to determine aus?picious days and holidays that are based on the lunar calendar. "And I'm just a tiny bit super?stitious, so it's sort of like a safeguard. " Sreenivasan consulted Pan?chaang for the best day to start her 7-month-old daughter, Var?sha, on solid food and checks it before she plans trips. "My mother believes (in Ve?dic astrology) much more than I do," she says, adding that her parents insisted that Sreeniva?san marry on a certain day that fell in the middle of the week. "It's a little difficult to do that here," she says, "but we did it.'. Computer programs such as Panchaang that meld estab?lished cultural traditions and modern life are not new in In?dia, says Akhil Gupta, an assis-tant professor'of anthropology at Stanford University. "But what is interesting is to see the modification of these practices to suit present condi?tions," he says, chuckling. In~iian families, he expiains, conSIder the relatiohship with their pundits very important, consulting one in times of crisis as well as for advice on when to plant or harvest crops or even conceive a child. "A family will call off an ar?ranged marriage if the horo?scope clashes," he says. "Vedic astrology is the basis of a pun?dit's forecasts and people put a lot of faith in its religious sig?nificance, " The role of the pundit isn't as culturally important in the United States, he explains, be?cause like most recent ethnic minorities, many immigrants and their children tend to by?pass old traditions to embrace new ones. Those most interested in Ve?dic astrology here are frequent?ly neither Indian nor Hindu, ?they are professional astrolo?gers or simply people who be?come intrigued by the Eastern philosophy that guides the practice. "In India, it is advice that is very highly regarded, akin to a doctor's advice," says Jackie Haller, a Redwood City Vedic astrologer. "So a practitioner has a heavy responsibility to the person who comes to them for counseling." A computer program "can do the calculations that can take 10 hours to do by hand," she explains, but adds that what it can't do is replace the intuition that pundits also use to give accurate, advice. Although Gopalan is still a resident of India, he spends much of the year in Fremont with his son, Ram Gopalan, 35, a marketing manager for a San Jose semiconductor company. "Our intention is that this be fun and useful," says Ram, who is helping his father market the software. "It is astrology as people here understand it ... computation and interpreta?tion." Since then an improved version of the Panchang program called Panditji is available. Please visit www.webpanditji.com for info.