Toe-reading astrologer works to make future of HIV-infected kids better

Predicting the future and looking into the past by reading the lines on one's big toe may at best be called debatable. But the money an astrologer earns from this unique practice undoubtedly serves a good social cause. With the income he makes, astrologer Vijay supports at least 30 HIV-infected children in his village in Erode district.
Astrology's purpose, according to Vijay, is to interpret the positions of the planets and stars in the sky to gather information on an individual.But in his social life, it goes beyond that.
Vijay learnt the art after studying in detail the lines and patterns on one's big toe. For him, it all began at the age of 18. Today, he has read the lines on more than 4,500 big toes of people from different walks of life. Solutions may vary, but it's his devotion for this rare field of astrology that still brings people to his village called Avalpunthurai, 12 km from Erode.
As a child, Vijay was different from his friends. Besides being a staunch devotee of lord Shiva, he was fond of dogs, considered the vahana (vehicle) of the lord. To express his devotion towards dogs, he even ran a shelter for dogs in his village. "I was a devotee of Shiva from my childhood.
When I grew up, I used to dream of the lord. It was in one such dream that I got the idea of toe-reading," said Vijay, who was in Chennai recently. Vijay takes the print of one's big toe and studies the various lines on it. "It takes four to five hours in some cases, but I could give solutions to most people who have approached me so far," he said.
But learning to read the lines on one's big toe was not easy as Vijay didn't have any basic training on astrology. When he turned 18, Vijay started studying toe-prints of people and conducted research on how they are related to one's past and present.
Vijay first started taking the toe-prints of some drunkards in his village. He then started analyzing the lines on the big toes of people who are suffering from health problems. It took a couple of years for him to understand the difference between the lines found on toes of people suffering from various issues.
"People in my village thought I was mad. And my strong faith in lord Shiva was another reason for them to feel so. But I didn't look back. I studied the toe-prints of more than 1,000 people during my research. It was after getting a clear understanding about the subject, I began reading the big toes of people and started giving solutions to their problems," said 38-year-old Vijay.
What makes Vijay truly different, however, is the noble act that he does for the HIV-infected children in his village. "I am not doing toe-reading for money. I am doing this under the instruction from my god. The money is used for the welfare of some 30 HIV-infected children in my village," he said.
Besides, the Sri Bhairava Foundation, under his chairmanship, has contributed to a number of heart operations, particularly for children, conducted in and around Erode.