Inverse Karma

It is surprising how we easily forget the things in our own backyard. I was born and I grew up in Chennai, but never visited the planetarium. Located in quite an important part of the city, I hadn’t expected the Periyar Science & Technology Center (which houses the B. M. Birla Planetarium) to be that huge. Its a scrawling campus with a major part of it used for various exhibit galleries.

Day 1 – Fun in the galleries

There were already hundreds of kids waiting for the show called “cosmic jouney”. We didn’t have a clue about how awesome that show would be. The screening hall’s roof was built like a huge bowl, much like a cathedral. Around it on the floor were reclining seats. In the middle of it all was a monstrous alien-looking gun turret that later turned out to be the projector. The show ran for about 45 minutes as we all craned our necks watching all the planets (and occasionally the lone couple behind us ). The rendition of stars on the ceiling was the most unbelievably surreal thing I’ve ever seen. Sadly I wasn’t allowed to photograph it.

Then we took off to the Periyar Center, which has a total of 9 galleries. The first gallery was dedicated to Periyar and had a number of his portraits with other contemporary figures. Then came the 8 galleries, one by one, each dedicated to a subject – like electronics, material science, life science, urban development and the like. Most of the exhibits here are defunct, with poor or maybe zero maintenance. Still, it felt great to run from one gallery to the next, happily clicking pictures. The most interesting one was the medical gallery, where a lot of animals (and animal organs) were preserved and kept on display – you should take a look at the whale’s heart!

       Entire Photo Album – Periyar Science & Technology Center

Day 2 – Witnessing a solar eclipse

This was the first time I was gonna see a solar eclipse for real. Being a rare kind of eclipse (totality) that won’t be seen again for another 132 years, it was all the more reason to not miss it. We took off early in the morning to beat the crowd. But when we got there, there were like a 1000 people already there, many of them even in their pajamas! So we waited in line when we were given those plastic filter glasses for watching the sun. I was expecting a telescope or a giant screen inside but was disappointed to find hordes of people just standing at random spots and staring at the sun with those glasses (the telescopes arrived after the eclipse got over – lame). Anyways I joined them, took a place and behold the wonderful celestial spectacle! It was an experience worth remembering and recounting for a long time to come.

       Entire Photo Album – Witnessing My First Solar Eclipse

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