Eclipse

I woke up at 6 in the morning to catch the glimpse of ‘Rahu’ swallowing the Sun. However the nature had decided to play games with me and all I could see was the cloud cover over the sky. I was informed later by one of my colleagues that he was able to see the ‘partial eclipse’ over the Calcutta sky. Well I could not have done something at that time. However, I caught the TSE (Total Solar Eclipse) at Varanasi on TV and that sight was ‘awesome’. To see the corona and the ‘diamond ring’ was out of the world experience. My interest was more on a place called Taregna, a place near to my native city of Patna. This small naxal hit town was touted as the best place to view the eclipse in the country and as a result had seen a rush of astro-tourists from across the globe. The state government tried its best to beef up the security as well as the infrastructure for this celestial event. The place, as all of you would know by this time, was the research laboratory of legendary astronomer Aryabhatta. As the fate would have it, the lakhs gathered at the place would not have the opportunity to watch the eclipse due to an overcast sky. What was heartening to see, however, was the response of the local people towards the phenomenon. They clapped and cheered when the day turned into night and were disappointed that they were not able to enjoy the rare celestial sight. One of the reasons for choosing Taregna to describe all this was obviously because it is from native place. The other aspect, which is more significant, is to mark the definitive change in the mindset of Indian society in general. The effect of increasing awareness and increasing literacy levels cannot be undermined in this case. However, there is other side of the story which is not so heartening.

I was pained to see that even the educated people (by that I mean people who have attained decent educational qualification) following the superstitions. So, they shut themselves in their rooms (afraid of the shadow of the eclipse), took a dip in holy rivers to wash away their sins (What a day to chose to wash away sins) and gave alms to poor people and Brahmins (Well giving alms in not exactly bad but it is the motive behind anything which also determine the ‘goodness’ of that act). Some were worried about the effects of the eclipse on their future and in some cases on the future of their unborn babies. And no I am not writing this by watching TV and reading newspapers. I actually talked to people and realized that though we have been educated we have not exactly become wise and intelligent. Not to say that I come out clean in this entire episode. A day before I called my mother to ask whether I should do anything for the occasion. When my mother advised me only to take a bath before going to office I probed once again. At this she said that if possible put Tulsi leaves in the refrigerator but stressed that it was not necessary. It was something she said after that which made me realize the fact that after all these years of education I was still not free from the clutches of superstitions and bias. “Sometimes we do it just for the sake of tradition. We should use our rationale when we are in a dilemma. There will be many people who will be on move tomorrow and they will not take a dip in holy water or will put Tulsi leaves in their food before they eat it.” I think it is time when we so called intellectuals realize that the knowledge we have garnered is not only to put into professional use but also to change the mindset and create awareness in the society.