Or at least that is what the array of 150 stallholders and experts in astrology, palmistry, vaastu, tarot and various therapeutic sciences would like you to think.

The nine-day expo is the third edition of Nakshatra, and has been organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in association with Future Point, a company that provides online horoscopes and astrological software.

Organisers expect over 10,000 visitors and the entry tickets are priced between Rs 10 and Rs 15.

Astrologer and the chairman of Future Point, Mr. Arun Bansal, at a media meet, says the expo would attract both Indians and foreigners. “Foreigners are more interested; for Indians, this is commonplace, so they don’t care as much,” says Bansal.

During the meet, Bansal predicted that the Sensex would “continue to be jittery through February and March” and that “India would shine in various field throughout 2009 and 2010, in particular during the Commonwealth Games”.

Experts in yoga, reiki, stress management and spirituality have also set up stalls for the fortune expo. Nakshatra has traveled across the globe to Thailand, Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand, France , Mauritius and will pass through UK this June, the organisers said.

Among the ‘scientific experts’ and possessors of the past, present and future, 26-year-old tarot reader Shikhaa Madaan spoke to Newsline about the “increasing popularity of tarot among India’s youth”. “Tarot is popular among the young because it shows the correct path to tread,” says Madaan.

Madaan says most fortune seekers came to him looking for answers “centered around life, career, relationships and education”.

Rita Chaterjee, a numerology expert from Kolkata, claims that numerology is the most ‘authentic’ way of looking into the past, present and future, and that one’s time of birth could determine what ailments he or she had.

At another stall, Ashoka Kapoor, an astrologer who holds a Masters in Philosophy from the Medicina Alternativa, affiliated to the Zoroastrian College in Colombo, Sri Lanka, claims he has cured nearly 20 patients suffering from AIDS and cancer.

“I have the formula to cure cancer and AIDS; it is simple and economical, costing just Rs 5 a day,’ claimed Kapoor.

“The patient will be cured in a few days, and he doesn’t have to go to a doctor for that,” said Kapoor adding, “Corriander can cure AIDS.s