Avishek Parui narrates a captivating story of a child discovering the vastness of the universe and being mesmerized by the beauty of the planets around us.
This took place when I was seven. The advertisement said they had a telescope that could help see many planets on a clear sky. Especially Jupiter and Venus too, if one is really lucky. But mainly Jupiter. Maybe because it was the biggest. My mother had seen the page on a children’s creative activity website on her phone and wanted us to go. She knew I would love looking at planets through a telescope. My father had been grumpy at first as this had to happen on a weekday after his office hours but then agreed to go in the end. It was a long drive, and we stopped at a shop midway to get stuff for our home. I don’t exactly remember what we bought after all these years. It may have been some decorative things.
The traffic was terrible, and my father kept complaining along the way. He was a fat, impatient man who was quick to cuss, especially when he was driving. I sat on the back seat staring at the sea of faces and bikes as the evening began to fall with the many car-horns and changing traffic lights. We were supposed to reach by 6:30 PM, which was apparently the best time to set up the telescope, they had said to my mother over the phone. It was 6 already, and we were still 10 kilometres away, as per the map. Also informing that we will be late by at least 15 minutes due to the congestion ahead. Apart from that, the sky looked dense with clouds, and my father said he needed a sugar break as he was getting tired. I thought that happened due to his bad temper and swear words.