Now there’s only cow in the dark.

I, along with several astronomy enthusiasts, made sure to be in the holy city for the eclipse.

Paul from England, who grows weed for a living, invited me to his balcony overlooking the Ganges. At 5am Pete from San Diego and I headed to the action. Men were already staining their teeth with paan. Women already had bowls out to beg for rice. Fires were already boiling water for chai. The Ganges was already awash with colorful bathers.

On the balcony, we met up with Mairead and Caroline from Ireland, a guy who says he’s famous in Sweden, a German redhead, and her boyfriend from Bolivia. From there we could see the bathers, the ghats drenched in fresh sunlight, and the cows and goats hiding in corners; they sensed something was wrong with the world. Something was! The sun was about to disappear. One cow hid in a public bathroom and wouldn’t budge.

With special sunglasses, we watched. We waited. We saw the moon inching its way to steal the show from the sun. Leetle by leetle. It reminded me of the time in fifth grade when Corrin and I got in a fight over our choreography for the talent show. We both wanted to be in front, but I was of course much pushier. I knew I was an amazing dancer (let me remind you again). Janet Jackson’s ‘Escapade’ was in absolute awe once I kicked Corrin to the curb and took to the stage alone in my hot pink spandex.

The moon finally weaseled its way in front of the sun. Completely. The Ganges immediately turned black. The sky too, save for the glowing ring emanating from behind that attention-whore of a moon. We knew it was going to happen; we’d been watching it inch along. Yet it took us all by surprise. There was a collective gasp as the day turned to night so suddenly. Then… silence.

It was the first time I’d heard silence in India. Nary a horn squealed in the distance. After three minutes and a few seconds, the moon shifted again, illuminating the sky, the bathers, the beggars, the cows, the river, and all of us huddled on the balcony. The whole city exhaled in unison, clapped, and let out gleeful cheers. It sounded like all of India was rejoicing.

Yes, we all know there is a scientific explanation for a solar eclipse. But in the holy city of India it seemed like magic. As if Shiva had turned off the lights for a few minutes just to bring us all together.

Caroline takes care against burning her retinas. Retinas smell worse than hair when burned.

from 6:24 to 6:27am on July 22nd, 2009

The balcony crew at 6:45am. We immediately fell asleep after this was taken.

The cloak begins to cover the holy city.

Covered!

PS Speaking of eclipses, Bonnie Tyler is back! She’s 58 now and redoing ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart.’ Everything I prayed for in India has come true!

PPS All but one of these photos were shot by my friend Pete. He’s just a damn good photographer. Here’s his website again.

PSS Made you look.