Astha Arora

To Miss Astha Arora, Greetings and Felicitations,
A landmark event for India’s Millennium Celebrations,
Bringing to One Billion the population’s score,
And no doubt there’s room for a few million more.

In this year of 2000, at the 11th dawn of May,
What astrological influences govern your birthing day,
Taurus, the Bull, rules both Venus and the Sun
While thy Path of Fortune is within Capricorn spun,
An Architect perhaps, of Hypochondriac leanings,
If one interprets the Fourth House’s esoteric meanings,
Yet a Horoscope can do no more than merely indicate
Which paths to tread and avoid, relative to Fate;
Circumstance oft prevails, to steer the course of Life,
Begot within Mansions of Affluence or Alleyways of Strife.

So, what Karma for thee, whose name means Faith,
An aloof, pampered Brahmin or ostracised waif,
A victim of caste, a slave to fecundity and procreation,
To perhaps bear the two billionth child for thy nation?