I spy, with my little eye...

I have grown up, you could say, on Marjorie Orr's forecasts published with great regularity in upmarket women's magazines in India. When I finally meet the astrologer "" just next to Linda Goodman perhaps in terms of recall value for Western forecasters in India ""- she is every bit as chic as her pictures; not a day older either even though she has, she says, been practising astrology since the 1970s.

That was when she decided to switch careers. From being a documentary producer working with the BBC to a serious practitioner of astro-psychology "because unlike in India, where the focus traditionally has been on people wanting to know specific answers and timings for events, in the West, we also study psychology to help people through difficult times".

While working on a film on the paranormal, Orr apparently met an astrologer who did her reading with great accuracy ("At work,

I presented a very different face but he said some things about my past, as in not past lives or reincarnation but about chaos and turmoil, and

I thought, "wow, how did he know that?") and changed the course of her life.

"But not everything is predestined", she says,

"I always tell people it is a mix of destiny and your own free will, otherwise what would be the point of getting out of bed in the morning?" Orr also believes anyone can be an astrologer"" you don't really need to be psychic, just need to study hard for that. Though the fact that she is a Virgo ("moon in Gemini") herself obviously helps. "A lot of Aquarians and Geminis are astrologers too," she points out.

Orr's abilities are put to good use in the next one hour. Women always first ask about relationships and then work, while men ask about money and work first and then relationships, Orr believes.

Nevertheless, for me that morning, work is obviously first. "Will the Indian cricket team bring home the cup?" I ask her. "I am Scottish, I don't do cricket," she says, but does. "Who are your two main players... Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly?" I nod eagerly. For Sachin alas, the stars are not encouraging.

"Is Neptune at 19 (degrees)?" Orr asks fellow astrologer and business head for www.astrolife.com Raj Rao, who has brought her onboard with an e-book on 2007 predictions for the Indian market. And then proceeds to take out her laptop ("... I prefer business hotels for this... just plug it in") and do some rapid calculations.

"Neptune opposite Mars...undermines energy, things are not going well for him and there will be moments of panicky failure," Orr says, "there will be jolting changes this year, till January 9, he will be accident prone and quite bad-tempered and may be feeling a lot edgier on the field than he is showing."

For Sourav, the tidings are much better. "In December, he's done very well, this year things are opening up for him, but 2008 is when he is heading for huge success."

Orr has done her homework well, and pre-empts our asking this time round. "Sunjay Dutt", she hesitates, "is he one of your stars?" For Dutt too, all is not well, or so the stars say. "He is feeling quite confident till February 2007 but from August, he is quite stuck. 2008-2009 are really worse, he is trapped and angry."

For Sonia Gandhi there is a "hugely intense Mars and things don't look good till January end, there are losses through the month." Significant? Her chart looks a lot like Hillary Clinton's though. My favourite, however, is Orr's take on Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai ("If their dates of birth are correct, film stars usually hide their ages," unless one was born "in a civilised place like Glasgow where everything is registered and the information easily accessible...even in England they say 'Mummy says he came at tea time'.") "She is water-earth, he is air-fire and though initially opposites may attract, this will not be a marriage for life," Orr says. "She is passionate and possessive and will find him difficult to pin down," and adds "the great love of her life is still to come, some years away." So be it.

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India in 2007

The country has two charts "" its Capricorn according to the 1877 "undivided" one and a Leo according to the 1947 "divided" one"" post-partition

The stockmarket: Will continue its roller-coaster ride, particularly between January-July. 2008, however, is a big year for business and confidence.

Health care: Will expand but more health problems will come to the fore.

Employment unrest: Saturn in the sixth house. Saturn opposite Neptune means workers revolts.

Women on top: The same Saturn-Neptune opposition also means more women to the fore. "Benazir Bhutto and Queen Elizabeth both came to power at such a time."