Q I am a 28-year-old man living in my parent's house where I have a large rectangular-shaped room to myself on the first floor. I sleep and work as an event manager from here. I have placed an aquarium in the north side of my room to give a boost to my business. But Feng Shui does not recommend having water bodies in the bedroom. Would you call this place my office or the bedroom? What can be done here to bring success to both personal and professional aspects?

Yusuf Khan

A. I would take it as a studio where everything is happening in the same room. If you do not have an option to occupy another room then place the aquarium against the northern wall in the passage leading to your room. But you must demarcate the sleeping area from your work area clearly with the help of a screen or low-height cabinets that could contain books and files. Try to face your auspicious direction while working and sleep with your head pointing towards your Sheng Chi direction. To give a boost to your business, display pictures of events you have organised on a blue or black background on the northern wall of your work area. To attract continuous business from your clients, place their data in the north-west corner along with a windchime with six or seven hollow metal rods or a pendulum clock.

Q. I was married for five years and had a lovely daughter. Although I loved my wife, she got involved with somebody else and the result was a divorce. She took away all her belongings and my daughter but my wedding album and all the photographs are still with me. I am planning to get married soon and would like to know what precautions I should take to make my second marriage successful.

Name withheld

A. For new beginnings, it is best to get rid of old memories like your marriage album by floating it in running water of any river.

You must do away with your previous mattress and ensure the new one is in one piece.

Any thing that is a reminder of your old relationship in your immediate environment ? mementoes, pictures or gifts received or bought together during happier times with sentimental value ? should be done away with.

Space clear your room with the help of incense sticks, bells and other purifiers according to your religious beliefs.

These measures are essential because your new marriage will not be successful if you have any ties with your previous wife.

Q. I have twin sons and would like to make bunk beds for them to save space. I would like to put it in a corner to leave the rest of the room free for them to play. I would like your opinion on this and suggestions about desirable pictures, symbols and the colour scheme of the room.

Janki

A. Bunk beds are certainly space savers but against Feng Shui principles. This is because the child sleeping below is always under pressure as the upper berth acts as a beam, while the one on the upper level will feel cramped as he is too close to the ceiling.

Moreover, when children sleep on bunk beds built in the corner of a room, it is symbolic of them being cornered and restricted in life.

Instead it will be better to make them two single beds positioned in such a way that the children can see the door from their beds. They should not have their backs to the wall by the door.

Ensure that the beds have headboards for support and are placed against a wall in such a way that there is ample space around them for cosmic energy to flow.

Care should be taken that all the furniture in the room has soft curved lines. Introduce symbols, pictures and objects that have positive meanings.

Avoid abstract images that are too complex and difficult for innocent minds to understand. As far as colours are concerned, bright hues would be thought-provoking for young minds.

Q. I will be joining my father?s business very soon and will be doing up a chamber for myself adjacent to his. It?s been planned so I will also be facing north like my father but, in the process, will have my back towards him. I am not too comfortable with this arrangement and would like your suggestions. Could I place the desk at an angle across any corner?

Rahul Biswas

A. It is certainly not advisable for you to sit with your back to your father. Your problem can be solved if you sit facing east instead of north. Facing east is equally productive.

Being the direction of the rising sun, it brings with it lots of new opportunities. Do not place your desk at an angle across any corner.

Place your desk in the pure southwest corner of your room where one side of the table touches the southern wall.

This will help stabilise you well in your business and make sure you have a solid wall behind you rather than a window or open walkway where any body can pass.

Q. During holidays, my teenage daughter sleeps late in the night and wakes up late in the afternoon. Her room is located in the western part of the house. We have spare bedrooms in the southern and eastern part of the house also. Could shifting her out of this room solve the problem? She belongs to the west group according to her year of birth and I am a bit hesitant about shifting her to an eastern room.

Maitreyee

A. Bedrooms facing the sunrise in the east are ideal for people who find it hard to wake up early in the morning. You can also hang a pair of well-cut round crystals from the eastern window, which will diffuse the sunrays, creating stunning rainbow colours.

Shifting her to an eastern room should not be a problem provided she sleeps with her head pointing to any one of the auspicious directions favourable for west group people.