First Love

So what does the vast expanse of the sky make you feel? Does it make you feel tiny or gigantic or lonely or befuddled? What goes on in your head when you raise it up and take in the lingering darkness of the night sky?So what does the vast expanse of the sky make you feel? Does it make you feel tiny or gigantic or lonely or befuddled? What goes on in your head when you raise it up and take in the lingering darkness of the night sky?


For me, it's happiness.







Since as far back as I can remember, star gazing has been one of my favourite past times. Going to the terrace or the balcony or to the garden (non-polluted days) to just gaze at the skies was a daily ritual. I never knew any names and could never remember the shapes, but there I was everyday, watching them shimmer and burn.






I remember this time when me and my younger brother were sitting on the terrace, fancying ourselves the Ptolemys' of our times with our little handheld telescopes/binoculars. We saw a streak of light zoom by and we could swear that it was a comet! But then we thought it could've been a UFO or an inter-planetary collision or a meteor striking a star! Oh, if only we could catch it again!






Nothing could curtail our excitement that night.






The passion grew as the years went by.The first books I would check out on book fairs would be on Astronomy. And if someone asked me what I wanted to be, the prompt reply would be 'astrophysishist'. Every solar/lunar eclipse would find me on the terrace with the appropriate gear. I started recognizing the planets and constellations. Sirius became my evening companion. And Venus was always there as a reminder.






I know what you must be thinking- where did that dream go?






It didn't go anywhere. Everyday I step out to look at the stars, the waxing and waning Moon and my friend Sirius. The hours spent on the terrace are the happiest hours of the day. I still pick that magazine on the Cosmos in the library. It's there, all there, the hunger to find out more about what goes on there, millions of light years away from us. This is a hobby I will keep for the rest of my life.






Because first loves die hard.






:)