hands to the rescure of science

I am reminded of the story of a traditional panikkar astrologer. His mother was very old and he was expecting her departure anytime. Some client had asked in curiosity whether the astrologer could predict the date and time of death of his ...own mother. The astrologer did make some calculations and predicted the date and time. The chatterbox as the client was, gave extensive publicity about this. It was the talk of the village that the jolsyan's mother was going to die on a particular day as predicted by the panikkar. The day was approaching fast but the old lady did not show any sign of sickness. The D'day dawned and still the lady was remaining alive and kicking as solid as a rock. The choice for the panikkar was between a live mother and his means of livelihood. His hands worked strongly and with purpose at the neck of the hapless mother, and by the appointed time the prediction proved to be absolutely correct. People had gathered around the astrologer's house and one of the mourners asked the astrologer " How could you fix the date and time of your mother's death so accurately" The astrologer replied." saastraprayogam maathramalla, alpam kaiprayogavum vendivannu-- ശാസ്ത്രപ്രയോഗം മാത്രമല്ല അല്‍പം കൈപ്രയോഗവും വേണ്ടിവന്നു --- application of the science of astrology was not enough...application of both my hands actuallly did the trick..." The rest of it is left to the imagination of all.