Bangalore: It may not have been the dramatic “ring of fire” that other parts of India witnessed, but in Karnataka the sun turned into a slim crescent for several minutes, visibly dimming the daylight on Friday during the millennium’s longest solar eclipse. While the superstitious stayed put at home, easing Bangalore’s notorious weekday traffic, scientists and rationalists strived to make the most of the rare four-hour spectacle, studying changes in animal behaviour and the atmosphere while helping the public view the eclipse safely. Several businesses shut shop, restaurants that could have made brisk lunchtime business downed shutters and several government departments — needless to say the Vidhana Soudha too — were virtually deserted on Friday. At home, there were those who went through the routine rituals of fasting, bathing and praying, stepping out only after the eclipse for a temple visit where they “purified” themselves of the “evil” effects of the celestial phenomenon.
Child freed- Superstition touched a particular low in Mandya district where a child with disability was buried neck deep in the ground during the eclipse as his parents believed that this would cure him. However as the word went around the village — Sunka Tonnur, about 15 km from Pandavapura — elders intervened to free the child. In Gulbarga district, where a large number of children were similarly “treated” last year, the administration and the police were successful in preventing the practice this time. Several schools across the State, both private and government, chose to remain closed, citing children’s “safety” as the reason. This led Bangalore Science Forum president A.H. Rama Rao to point out: “Closing schools will only propagate fear about the phenomenon and do nothing to develop a scientific temper.” The public — adults and children alike — thronged forums that scientific institutes and rationalist groups arranged for safe eclipse viewing, to discuss the phenomenon and to dispel myths.
One such event was organised on the Malleswaram grounds by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in association with Bharat Gyana Vignana Samiti and Bangalore Astronomical Society.
Among the many who visited the grounds was 11-year-old Vipin Nagarabhavi who sat with a small book, looking at the sky through solar goggles and drawing images of the eclipse as it progressed. “I did not want my son to remain in the house and miss this rare event,” said his mother, Vishalamathi N.K. Here, and at other forums, snacks were distributed during the eclipse. “We wanted to show that there is no special radiation during the eclipse that should prevent you eating or stepping out of home,” said Satish K.G., an IT professional who volunteers with the Breakthrough Science Society. Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium director C.S. Shukre was pleasantly surprised at the crowds that thronged the premises with solar goggles and peered though the telescopes that had been arranged here. “We had at least 10,000 people come in over the course of the day,” he said. “It is good to see that our arrangements did not go in vain.” However, despite the campaigns to educate the public about safe eclipse viewing, several people chose to use old x-ray film to view the phenomenon, assuming it was safe. The next annular eclipse of this duration on earth will take place next only in 3043.
Source: The Hindu, Dated: 16.01.2010
Child freed- Superstition touched a particular low in Mandya district where a child with disability was buried neck deep in the ground during the eclipse as his parents believed that this would cure him. However as the word went around the village — Sunka Tonnur, about 15 km from Pandavapura — elders intervened to free the child. In Gulbarga district, where a large number of children were similarly “treated” last year, the administration and the police were successful in preventing the practice this time. Several schools across the State, both private and government, chose to remain closed, citing children’s “safety” as the reason. This led Bangalore Science Forum president A.H. Rama Rao to point out: “Closing schools will only propagate fear about the phenomenon and do nothing to develop a scientific temper.” The public — adults and children alike — thronged forums that scientific institutes and rationalist groups arranged for safe eclipse viewing, to discuss the phenomenon and to dispel myths.
One such event was organised on the Malleswaram grounds by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in association with Bharat Gyana Vignana Samiti and Bangalore Astronomical Society.
Among the many who visited the grounds was 11-year-old Vipin Nagarabhavi who sat with a small book, looking at the sky through solar goggles and drawing images of the eclipse as it progressed. “I did not want my son to remain in the house and miss this rare event,” said his mother, Vishalamathi N.K. Here, and at other forums, snacks were distributed during the eclipse. “We wanted to show that there is no special radiation during the eclipse that should prevent you eating or stepping out of home,” said Satish K.G., an IT professional who volunteers with the Breakthrough Science Society. Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium director C.S. Shukre was pleasantly surprised at the crowds that thronged the premises with solar goggles and peered though the telescopes that had been arranged here. “We had at least 10,000 people come in over the course of the day,” he said. “It is good to see that our arrangements did not go in vain.” However, despite the campaigns to educate the public about safe eclipse viewing, several people chose to use old x-ray film to view the phenomenon, assuming it was safe. The next annular eclipse of this duration on earth will take place next only in 3043.
Source: The Hindu, Dated: 16.01.2010
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