Total Eclipse of the….

Summary: While we didn’t trek to Varanasi to see the century’s longest eclipse in totality, we did wake up at the crack of dawn to experience it from our roof, in Lucknow.

The longest eclipse of the century occurred on July 22, 2009, and the path of totality crossed over parts of India and China. Varanasi, a recommended destination for this anticipated event, was only a train ride away.

Unfortunately, work beckoned, and July 22 fell smack in the middle of our teacher training. In fact, we had to reschedule our training to accommodate the superstitious teachers, who, among other things, refused to leave the house the morning of the eclipse.

Naturally, the night before the eclipse, some friends and I found ourselves scrambling to figure out plans. Would it be worth waking up at the crack of dawn? Do we spend the night sleeping on the floor of a friend’s apartment in order to get a 9th-story view of early morning the eclipse? Do we get an autorickshaw to pick us up at 4:30 am to head over to their place then? Or, do we enjoy the view from the roof of Anna / Elizabeth’s apartment? Would the sun even be high enough during the eclipse to be viewable from the apartment?

We settle for the last option (viewing from our own roof), and woke ourselves up at 5 am to catch the sunrise (and beginning of the eclipse) at 5:30, and the 96% totality view from Lucknow at ~6:30.

Reading about the eclipse, I had learned that looking directly at the eclipse (even with sunglasses) can cause permanent damage to the eye. One simple alternative is to view a projection of the eclipse; hence, I found myself trying to recreate my 7th grade pinhole camera setup. I took a small piece of cardboard, used earrings to poke a hole through it, and used a paper bag as the screen. Nothing. Repeated, with a slightly bigger hole. Still nothing.

Of course, this repeatedly failed endeavor resulted in endless laughter and disbelief at my stubbornness and nerdiness. At around 6:15, I finally reaped the results of my efforts – a miniature projection of the eclipse, measuring about 1 cm in diameter. Turns out it had been working the whole time, but I mistook the image I saw as one of the pinhole and its shadow, rather than the eclipse.

At about 6:30, the sky was noticeably darker, and at about 7 am, we realized that it was once again brighter and the highlight of the eclipse had passed us by.

Underwhelming and anticlimactic, to say the least. But that was because (a) we weren’t prepared with appropriate viewing equipment, and (b) we weren’t in the path of totality. Had we been in Varanasi, we would, according to a friend, have seen a line separating the day and the night, with blue sky on one side and stars on the other. And that would’ve been something.

But we were in Lucknow, on our roof, one of the few crazies who were out during the eclipse. Glad I woke up? Sure. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have seen the surya grahan (solar eclipse) cause duniya kattam (the end of the world).

I’m glad my Hindi is gradually improving with useless vocabulary.