Indians, after all, manage to live in that rare combination of modernity and superstition that defines them as a breed apart. Where else in the world is so much made of an individual’s astrological chart, that mysterious celestial database that determines one’s life opportunities, marital prospects, and willingness to take on certain risks?
归根结底，只有印度人能够将现代化和令他们与众不同的迷信完美结合。全世界还有哪个地方靠个人星象图来解释一切，由神秘的天体数据库决定某人一生的机会、婚姻前途和冒险的意愿？我曾写道印度人没有星象就像美国人没有信用卡。这样的观察结果在进入21世纪后并没有任何变化。