The Night Sky

Have you ever observed the night sky? Lain face up in an open field or the rooftop at night and gazed at the sky? If you haven’t, come on, do it! For the night sky is perhaps, the greatest book of philosophy nature has ever written for man to read.

During the day, the sky is too gaudy a blue or has too much of glare for one to gaze at it comfortably for long. So also, on the whole, the diurnal sky appears somewhat monotonous and deserted; with fluffs of cumulous clouds that are mostly static or at best, moving at an undetectably slow pace. In fact, the only interesting things in the diurnal sky are the birds—especially the eagles that go round and round too lazy even to flap their wings—and the occasional curiously comical sight of the moon appearing in the day; perhaps to prove something to the sun.

But the night sky teems with queer objects, strange sights, and mysterious phenomena.

The first thing that will strike you about the night sky is the invincible silence that prevails. A silence as formidable and solemn as could not be expected of such vastness…vastness that goes on and on, confounding human understanding. Let yourself lose in that unfathomable expanse and you will feel an ineffable serenity, an enigmatic calm fill you and gradually drown you. The earth, you will then get to know, is but a silly, ludicrous little mite of a fortuitous grain of insignificance…yet, you will feel thrilled and proud to be part of a marvelous creation of splendor and beauty.

The tiny stars that merrily wink at you from those great distances might appear to you as innocent and helpless as if they were infants abandoned on the crossroads of the universe by wayward, insensitive celestial belles. But in actuality, some of them are such ferocious balls of all-consuming fire that our own sustainer star, the sun, cannot even hold a candle to their might and immensity.

Often you will find tiny moving lights or shining objects traversing the night sky. Most of these proceed leisurely, but at a steady pace, as if bound for some predetermined destination. Some of these, you will readily recognize as being airplanes or jet planes; some, I guess, could be artificial satellites or weather gizmos, but the rest? Well, as long as you do not know what they actually are, you can amuse yourself by fancying that they are fairy lamps and flying saucers from magic worlds, sailing by on mysterious missions.

Then there are those sudden streaks of light ripping through the sky—whoosssh…and gone. If you happen to see this spectacle, well, lucky you! You saw a shooting star! So before you do anything else, touch the ground and make a wish. Your wish will be granted. You can mark my words for that!

Sometimes you will see clouds of every shape and size hurrying by as if they were late for some crucial business convocation. Now if you look at the moon—if it is there—you get the strange feeling that the clouds are at rest and the moon is racing by, while in reality it is the other way round. Why one feels so, no science or technology has been able to explain clearly to this day…some trick of the senses, I believe.

Bats are often seen in the night sky in most places; only that you might mistake them for huge moths—especially the baby bats. Owls are rarer, unless you are in a country side. And you will see a lark or a nightingale only if fastidious fate deems so. But keep looking for them.

And look! That faint glimmer afar is actually a rainbow. It means that the brave old days of bright sunshine and bygone cheer are bound to be back. So time you smiled…your lovely smile, which lights up your face so brilliantly and sets my heart singing for joy.

V K Rajan