Noted astrologer Bejan Daruwalla no more

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AHMEDABAD: Acclaimed astrologer Bejan Daruwalla, breathed his last at a private hospital in Gandhinagar on Friday. He was 90.

Daruwalla was being treated for pneumonia and brain hypoxia for the past few days. Although his family has denied that he had tested positive for Covid-19, his name featured in the list of Covid-19 positive patients announced by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

“He was a fighter and he fought bravely till his last breath. He predicted that Coronavirus will soon go away. India, despite its poverty and joblessness, will rise like a phoenix. Next year will be the best year for India and the country will soon emerge as a superpower,” said Nastur Daruwalla, son of the world renowned astrologer.

News of the celebrated astrologer’s death left his friends and followers saddened. Behram Mehta, whom Daruwalla called his dearest friend, said,” He treated me like his son. He always told me that when he expired, he wanted a grand farewell. Unfortunately, with the lockdown in place, that will not be possible. I am saddened beyond words and pray that his family will be consoled,” Mehta said.

Hemang Pandit, founder of GaneshaSpeaks said that news of Bejan Daruwalla’s death has been shocking and traumatising. “The loss can never be made up, but we will ensure that Bejan Daruwalla’s legacy will continue through GaneshaSpeaks.” Pandit said.

In a video posted on an online platform on in the second week of April, Daruwalla predicted that the challenges of dealing with Coronavirus will remain in the month of April and May. “After May 21, this disease is expected to go away with Lord Ganesha’ blessing,” said Daruwalla who is joined by astrologist Dharmesh Joshi. In the video titled ‘when will life become normal?’, the revered astrologist said that normalcy could return to the world after May.

Hailing from Ahmedabad, the young Parsi once taught English literature at HA Arts and Commerce College before he moved to Mumbai. With varied interests from sports to poetry and literature, his jolly nature and easy to accessibility has won hearts of people all around the globe. Last year, he was admitted in a hospital in Ahmedabad when he suffered from a brain stroke from which he seemed to have recovered, said sources.

“Please do not doubt my integrity, and please be sure that I keep an open mind, laugh and cry very easily, and have a heart big enough to embrace the whole world, though I am short and bald and fat and old,” he is quoted as saying on his personal website.

Recalling his meeting with Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan people, ‘he was very much happy and excited when the Dalai Lama asked Bejan to put his own hand on Dalai Lama’s head at the India International Centre, Delhi’. “He has never completely got over it. It was simply too much,” the website states.