Group hosts dinner during lunar eclipse

The idea is to empower homemakers against dubious TV astrologers, says founder of Bheemaputri

A group of women did something unthinkable for many: eat during an eclipse, and that too sitting inside a graveyard.

Revathi Raj, founder of an organisation called Bheemaputri Brigade, hosted an unusual dinner on July 27, the day of a major lunar eclipse.

“Our main target was homemakers. Women who watch astrologers on TV talking about the eclipse are vulnerable. They insist others at home do exactly as they are doing,” she says.

The Bheemaputri Brigades team volunteered to go out and campaign against the belief last week.

“We got home-cooked veg and non-veg items and dined at the Chandapura graveyard in Anekal taluk. This protest was like a feast,” she says.

The organisation, with an office in Chandapura, Anekal taluk is fighting to empower women who have fallen prey to superstition.

Bheemaputri, Revathi says, was threatened by many who thought the protest was against Hinduism. “Our protest was not against the religion, but against blind beliefs that can be fatal. My question is, why are eclipse-related restrictions imposed only on Hindus? Are people from other religions safe from the icy hands of the eclipse?”

She wonders how giving alms and offering prayers, as suggested by TV astrologers, can help in sterilizing the bacteria that supposedly grow during an eclipse.

“Our protest is purely against superstitions. But in India, everything somehow ends up getting entangled in religion,” says Jofi George, a member of Bheemaputri.

Daniya Sayeed, another member, admits she was terrified about the idea of a late-night meal at a graveyard. “But now that I have experienced it, I feel a lot more confident and empowered,” she says.

No scientific basis

Many widespread beliefs about eclipses are baseless. For example, there is no scientific reason you shouldn’t eat during an eclipse, according to Chandrakant Shukre, astrophysicist. “Since these have been followed through the ages, it is difficult to move away from them,” he told Metrolife.