In my earlier blog I had mentioned about a baby's smile and cry being attributed to its remembrances of its previous birth.This is a matter of faith and I do not want to offend any one's feelings. The cry may be regarded as the only language the baby can use to communicate with the outside world; more over it is the ex-pression of instinct. It is quite often believed that smile is something that one learns from others, by imitating them. All these are moot points, I admit. However, the physical body with all its muscles, nerves and tendons are capable of certain movements which are associated with certain emotions.The face alone has more than thirty different muscles and is capable of expressing different feelings.

A sleeping baby's face may go into different 'convulsions' / movements and we associate them with certain emotions. When the baby's lips spread sideways it is the sign of smiling, even as smileys are symbols of emotions. Its giggles, sobs and other movements and sound signals may be incidental.

Do religions which do not approve of a cycle of births account for a baby' smile the same way as the others do?

This apart, what about the next birth? Has the dying man a body waiting for his soul to enter and take the next birth? This is a very tricky area where figures in the "Naadi" astrology.

Naadi is a name derived from the act of people desiring to go to such astrologers to know the cause of present sufferings,the expiation,  and what and where they would be born in the next birth.

There are at least seix seven different Naadi readings written by different 'rishis' like Nandhi, Kaushika, Agasthiyar, etc. They have different modes of presenting the matter.

The general format is to look for Index, early days, marriage, profession /occupation , and death in the present birth, and separate cantos on previous birth and the next birth. I have seen some palm leaf MSS in the form of a dialogue between Goddess Parvathi and Lord Shiva; He answers the questions she raises about an individual's life and vital events.

An astrologer of this school has at least twelve volumes relating to twelve vital aspects of life.

Let me narrate the experience of a Professor of Mathematics, a former colleague of mine, who became so much interested in finding out the reliability of the statements. When he read the chapters relating to the past life, he is saud thave bee born to a Brhmin couple in Benares, and as biy of six was drowned in theGanges, and that the poor parents had no more children and are alive there. There are some hints given as to finding their place and identity. He went all the way following the directions given and found an aged couple who had a similar tale to tell. He gave them some money and arranged free meal for a certain number of people as specified.

On another occasion when he went to inquire about the fate of a sick uncle, he was told that he had died in his house that very moment, and was born at such and such place to so and so in a certain place. Curiosity drove him to verify. Both the accounts were true. The uncle had died, and a baby had been born there.

Such accounts may be multiplied;but in a particular  case it was irresistable for me and I crossed the limits of decency and asked my visually impaired friend  how his wife accepted to such a marriage. He told me that the bride's family had consulted such Naadi astrologer and it was predicted that her future husband would be handicapped above the neck. When these people went they believed it was the right person and the marriage was arranged and they live happily blessed with chidren.

My intention is not to present a series of such incidents in support of my argument. In fact, I had read several such index texts - all written in verse form - relating to people of different ethnic groups, languages and nationalities.

When I personally visited such am astrologer he said my records were not available with him. During the search a leaflet dropped, and with his permission I took it home. You would not believe if I said that I had to use a magnifying glass to read it, and each side of the palm leaf contained sixteen lines, which certainly cannot be read at a glance.

So much for the present and I shall continue with such interesting accounts next week. Bye mdj