My reply is based on my personal experience.

From my childhood I have seen my father, a smart, intelligent IIT-Kharagpur, B.Tech.(Hons.) graduate and topper from the 1950’s, being massively fooled by astrologers and palmists.

Most of them were educated and learned people and they gave hand written reports on their fancy letter heads but I would tell you very honesty that all of them were absolutely wrong on two accounts.

First they all had predicted that my father would start a business of his own and would become one of the greatest industrialist of India – but that was not true.

The second and what I found more troubling was that nearly all of them had predicted that my mother would not live beyond the age of 45 years.

She is 80 years now and takes no medicine even at this age (touch wood). She still walks for 1 hour everyday, eats a controlled diet, meditates, does some Yoga and does not talk much. This has been her lifelong routine. She is a retired Mathematics teacher.

As is obvious being the only son my father was worried about me. So sometimes I would chugh along and at that age was in awe of all the learned astrologers and palmists and most of them used to tell great things about me, which was kind of an ego boost.

Then I learnt the lesson of my life which actually changed the course of my life/karma. I had not planned for it and absolutely did not see it coming.

Sometime in 1988-89 while in my first/second year of engineering, one fine day, I along with 4 to 5 of my college friends went to the local and very learned palmist who was all dressed up like a magician. He was predicting excellent things for my friends. When my turn came I paid him his fee and sat there to listen to the good stuff about myself.

To my shock he told me that I would die in a road accident by the 1993–94. I was shocked and surprised as to how another human being could make such a sweeping statement. I had already read about the dire predictions about my mother also and that made me jump into palmistry and astrology and take a deep dive to find out how such a things could be said by another child of God.

Based on my personal experience I discovered that yes formal training does help in the theoretical aspect of astrology and / or palmistry and can make one a great astrologer or palmist but there is NO GUARANTEE.

As one wise person told me “even astrologers have birth charts and go through malefic influence of planets and malefic dashas and antardashas.

And yes before i forget death cannot be predicted and if anyone does so than please run a 100 miles away from him or her.

The bottom line if you do good karma and lead a disciplined life you do not have to worry about your chart or palm and can simply rise above it, as have our great saints sanyasis, sansasins and millions of everyday ordinary people.

Good Luck