Solar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse

The solar eclipse is a dazzling celestial phenomenon and a breath-taking sight to behold or at least it is supposed to be so. Well this is not exactly shared by most of those whom I know. No longer disappointed or dismayed by this fact as I have become wistfully wise over the years or decades. A simple matter of the moon coming between the earth and sun and casting its shadow on the sun. That’s all. 

Not an eclipse passes without a hue and cry being raised by astrologers, religious heads and other charlatans who feed on the fears and ignorance of the general populace. Dire warning would be issued, grave dangers to pregnant women would be bandied about and deleterious effects of the eclipse would be hyped - A good racket indeed. These slimy, two-bit prognosticators who boast of having all the wisdom and knowledge of thousands of years could not predict the corona virus which has shaken our lives as never before!!!!!! Of course, I did eat many things during the eclipse – have been doing this for decades.

The solar eclipse will be visible on June 21, so the newspapers, TV channels, web sites proclaimed in very excited tones. I was in Kollegal to take care of my mom who somehow got stranded there due to the Corona virus. Now that the excitement has been kindled partly by the news and partly by self-induced enthusiasm, I had to find some dark glasses to watch that spectacular event. After trying some glass shops, I finally managed to procure a welding glass for a modest amount on that day. Incidentally, the guy next door, a nice bloke doing all sorts of project works for school students (so much so for learning),  was quite kind enough to provide a cardboard with dark tape for safe viewing.

Its only on such occasions do we really observe things around us, especially the quirky acts of nature. Till June 20 the sun was beating down on our backs mercilessly and relentlessly and when I had to venture out to run errands, I could not see even a small patch of clouds to get some respite. On June 21, 2020 there was no dearth for clouds at all, they were everywhere obscuring the sun. What a conspiracy nature cooks up and always against me!! How these things happen so uncannily at the right time is beyond my ken. I remember the same thing happening during the last lunar eclipse in April. It was a cloudless sky and when the shadow of the earth started falling on the moon the clouds started appearing in droves all of a sudden and once the eclipse was over they blithely melted away,  having done their duty.

Without losing heart I kept darting out of my house on to the street with both the glass and the cardboard googles and kept looking at the sky much to the amusement of the bystanders and passerby’s. How many of them thought I were nuts and a bit unhinged, god knows? That wasn’t exactly unfamiliar territory for me either. 

Then some of the clouds parted ways and lo and behold the sun was visible!! The round disc of the sun was covered partly by the moon like the apple logo. Geometrically this is a simple thing but if you really wanted to see whenever you wished, then even a billion dollars would do no good as you have wait for the next eclipse and then again the clouds should not play spoil sport.

Sitting and watching the road for some sunshine became my occupation for the next 2 hours and mercifully the clouds obliged me by moving away or thinning out, so that I can watch the eclipse in snatches. Also had the satisfaction of showing it to my mom, my neighbor and also to the painter we engaged.

The next task in this age of camera mobile phones, which has made all and sundry as photographer, is to capture this spectacular sight for posterity. So I tried to hold the glass in one hand the mobile in the other hand and tried in vain to take a photograph. But this seemingly mundane task was not to be so simple. Holding both together did the job but the light got diffused in the glass and raagu eating the sun shape was not being captured. Same with the cardboard googles. So, had to settle for that disappointment.

Being someone not to give up so easily I placed a bowl of water and tried to watch the eclipse. When the clouds thinned out the shape was visible, and the brightness of the sun was considerably reduced. So finally captured a few shots which weren’t that great. I added a little robin blue to the water. You see I do get all sorts of ideas now and then. While patting myself for thinking out of the box, I found to my chagrin that things were not exactly great with this innovative idea as will. The sun was still bright for any kind of mobile photography.

As the moon continued its inexorable journey round our planet, the shadow become smaller and smaller and the finally the eclipse ended. Unfortunately, it was only a partial eclipse and no ring of fire or diamond ring or such spectacular displays.

A few hours of craning my neck now and then and juggling the dark glass and goggles during the difficult Covid times was quite refreshing. The eclipse weaned me away from the dreary ennui which all of us have to undergo in these era of lockdowns, total lockdowns, complete lockdowns, stringent lockdowns and what not. Remembering John Keats – A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases and never passes into nothingness.