Sir,

I am very thankful to SOM for publishing the article “Eclipse Chaser” about my father, Dr. S.N. Prasad, in its special issue on Feb. 16, 2020. Being a proud Mysurean, Star of Mysore and its sister concern Mysooru Mithra have kind of been a part of my growing up in Mysuru!

Though it definitely must have been a pure coincidence, the fact that this article was published exactly 40 years after our family watched the solar eclipse near Tungabhadra Dam on Feb. 16, 1980, made us very nostalgic!

I was a little girl at that time and I dearly remember that eclipse, especially the totality and how it suddenly felt like evening and the birds started chirping as they must have got confused and started heading back to their nests! I can never forget that experience and I truly cherish those moments.

So, though some people may think my father must be crazy to be chasing eclipses around the world even at this age (he is 82 now), I fully understand the thrill he gets out of it. I sincerely hope that he will be able to watch the 2024 eclipse in the US.

– Asha, Bengaluru, 17.2.2020

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