<p>But not on the eclipse day, when a huge crowd had collected at Lalbagh to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon.<br /><br />Courtesy Bharath Vignana Kendra, a ‘Surya Grahana Darshan’ had been arranged atop the rocky hillock inside Lalbagh, complete with running commentary. The Kendra had even arranged morning breakfast with a view to not only offer refreshment but also to break the age-old myth that eating during eclipse is dangerous for health.<br /><br />The sky watchers had started assembling at Lalbagh from 5.30 am. Since the eclipse in Bangalore was between 6.15 am to 7.20 am, a huge crowd including a big posse of mediamen gathered on the hillock by 6 am. People from far-off areas of the city too reached to have a clear view of the eclipse. The OB vans of the television channels too lined up just below the hillock to give a live coverage of the eclipse to their viewers. But the clouds decided to play spoilsport.<br /><br />People using the solar filters and X-Ray films kept their gaze glued towards the east to even have a glimpse of the eclipse but all the efforts proved futile due to the cloudy weather. Sun tried to peep through the clouds only for a fraction of seconds at about 7.15 am but that wasn’t enough to have clear view of the eclipse. The sun came out of the clouds not before 9 am, almost one-and-half hours after the duration of eclipse was over.<br /><br />“I am disappointed. I learnt that such phenomenon of total solar eclipse in India is happening after a century, so I came here to get a clear picture of it but the cloudy weather spoilt the show,” said K K Swamy of J P Nagar. He recalled his childhood days when he saw the total solar eclipse.<br /><br />Inchara (10) from Banashankari was anxiously waiting to see the rare celestial event and had bought a solar filter also, but her wish was not fulfiled thanks to the clouds.</p>
<p>But not on the eclipse day, when a huge crowd had collected at Lalbagh to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon.<br /><br />Courtesy Bharath Vignana Kendra, a ‘Surya Grahana Darshan’ had been arranged atop the rocky hillock inside Lalbagh, complete with running commentary. The Kendra had even arranged morning breakfast with a view to not only offer refreshment but also to break the age-old myth that eating during eclipse is dangerous for health.<br /><br />The sky watchers had started assembling at Lalbagh from 5.30 am. Since the eclipse in Bangalore was between 6.15 am to 7.20 am, a huge crowd including a big posse of mediamen gathered on the hillock by 6 am. People from far-off areas of the city too reached to have a clear view of the eclipse. The OB vans of the television channels too lined up just below the hillock to give a live coverage of the eclipse to their viewers. But the clouds decided to play spoilsport.<br /><br />People using the solar filters and X-Ray films kept their gaze glued towards the east to even have a glimpse of the eclipse but all the efforts proved futile due to the cloudy weather. Sun tried to peep through the clouds only for a fraction of seconds at about 7.15 am but that wasn’t enough to have clear view of the eclipse. The sun came out of the clouds not before 9 am, almost one-and-half hours after the duration of eclipse was over.<br /><br />“I am disappointed. I learnt that such phenomenon of total solar eclipse in India is happening after a century, so I came here to get a clear picture of it but the cloudy weather spoilt the show,” said K K Swamy of J P Nagar. He recalled his childhood days when he saw the total solar eclipse.<br /><br />Inchara (10) from Banashankari was anxiously waiting to see the rare celestial event and had bought a solar filter also, but her wish was not fulfiled thanks to the clouds.</p>
