In the time when future popularly lies within the mumbo jumbo of tarot card readers and the gibberish of ‘k’numerologists, Muslim clairvoyant Nawal Gani away from the popular trend can read future in the coffee cup.

Coffee cup reading has its actual roots in China. Ancient monks predicted the future by reading patterns left by tealeaves in bell-shaped cups. This process is known as tasseography. Arabs took up tasseography with coffee later.

The process is simple. If you go and meet her in her apartment in Bangalore, she invites you to have a sip of some Arabic coffee. “
“As soon as I turn the cup containing thick Turkish coffee grounds upside down near the saucer and wait for it to dry up I prepare myself. Sometimes it all comes in a matter of seconds and at times it requires great concentration,” says Gani.

She often yawns while reading the cups for her clients. She says, “The key is the yawn. If I burp then there is negative energy within the client. I cleanse it by asking my clients to drink water and by chanting prayers.”

Her clientele list consists of big names. “I have read cups of India’s top politicians including Sonia Gandhi (leader of the ruling Congress party), her daughter Priyanka, Atal Behari Vajpayee (former Indian prime minister) and Bollywood actors and actresses,” says 43-year old Nawal Gani.

She took up coffee cup reading seriously in order to run the two orphanages her parents had started. She charges Rs.1000 for reading each cup. She reads cups on phone too. All you have to do is to pay double the fee and tell her yours and your mother’s name. And it still comes out pretty accurately says Nawal Gani.