Kundli for beginners.
If you grew up around uncles who quoted your nakshatra and you never knew what they meant: this is for you.
Why bother?
A kundli is not a fortune-teller. It's a self-portrait drawn with the planets as language. Done well, it gives you a vocabulary for things you already know about yourself — and a frame for thinking about timing. Done badly, it becomes anxiety on a schedule. Stick to people and tools that respect the difference.
What you need to generate one.
Three things: your date of birth, your time of birth (the more exact the better — the Lagna shifts every two hours), and the city you were born in. Time precision matters because the Lagna is what makes the chart yours; without it you get a generic Solar Chart instead.
What the four headline data points mean.
Lagna — the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born. Rashi — your Moon sign (Vedic's default 'sign'). Sun sign — closer to the Western reading, your soul's signature. Nakshatra — one of 27 lunar mansions, the Moon's finer-grained sign. Together these four answers tell you most of what a beginner wants to know.
What to skip until later.
Doshas (Manglik, Sade Sati) are flags, not life sentences. Read them as patterns to manage, not curses. Dasha periods (Mahadasha, Antardasha) are long planetary chapters; useful for thinking about timing but easy to over-interpret. Save divisional charts (Navamsa etc.) for when you've got the basics down.
The fastest way to learn this is to generate your own chart and tap each card to read what it means. Go.