Chapter 4: The Eclipse

There were only two weeks left until summer vacation, but there was yet one wondrous moment to experience—a solar eclipse— whatever that was.  And it was going to happen today, this very afternoon.  The entire class was excited.  Every student was busy preparing special sunglasses with which to watch the eclipse.

  The four brothers were no exception.  They worked carefully.  Their glasses must not fail.  They had to see the eclipse.

"Alex, do these look right?" asked Trey.

"Yeah.  They’re fine," said Alex.

“But just what is an eclipse?" asked Andy.  Sadly, none of them seemed to really know.  They had some idea, but didn’t know for sure.  So Ty decided to ask Mr. Mahajan, their substitute teacher and friend.  The boys had grown quite fond of this man and his wondrous stories. 

"Mr. Mahajan, what is an eclipse?" asked Ty.

"Well, an eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when either the sun or the moon moves in front of the other, blocking its lights and casting a shadow on the earth.  What we will see today is a total solar eclipse, which means the moon will cross in front of the sun making the day look like night.  This happens only once every 370 years."

"Wow!  But wait!  I don't know if I like that," muttered Andy.  “That sounds scary."

"Its okay, Andy.  It’ll only be dark for a few minutes," assured the teacher.  And with that, the boys went back to work preparing their glasses.

 Satisfied with their work, Mr. Mahajan decided to share one final story.  He would soon return to his native India.

"You know boys,” he said.  “In my country we have a wonderful explanation for the eclipse.  Would you like to hear it?"

"YES!!!" they all screamed.  And immediately gave him their attention.

" Long ago,” began Mr. Mahajan, “before the world was the way it is now, gods and demons were not immortal.  They lived and died just as humans.  To become immortal, they had to drink the divine nectar called amitra.  But that nectar, that life-giving drink, was at the botom of the ocean.  Now, the ocean didn’t have waves as it does today.  It was calm and still.  But the demi-gods --half gods, half humans-- and their mortal enemies, the demons, decided to join forces and perform a special ceremony called the Samudra Manthan—a churning of the ocean.  They wrapped a snake around a mountain, and started to pull.  And as they pulled, the mountain began to rotate, churning the ocean and making it look like foamy milk.  The ocean became one massive whirlpool.” 

“As the demons and gods looked on, the ocean bottom became visible.  Suddenly, Rahu, a lower level demon, jumped into the churning water, swam to the bottom, and grabbed a jar of the amitra."

"Wow!  He must have been a good swimmer,” said Trey.  “The ocean’s so deep." 

"Yes, it is, Trey—and he was a good swimmer.  When he came back to the surface, each of the demons and gods excitedly jumped in line to drink from the nectar.  But Vishnu, one of the more powerful gods, didn’t want the demons to be immortal.  So, he took control of the nectar, giving it only to gods.  This made the demons angry—especially Rahu.  After all, he was the one who had swum down to the ocean floor and got it.  So while the demi-gods were all celebrating and drinking the amitra, Rahu secretly disguised himself as a demi-god, and made his way into the crowd.  Right as he lifted the jar of amitra to his lips and began to drink, the sun god Surya and the moon god Chandra recognized his disguise and yelled out his deception.  With amitra trickling down Rahu's throat, Vishnu threw his discus weapon and cut off Rahu’s head."

"COOL!!!!” said Alex.

"Awesome," said Andy.

"Yes, but unfortunately,” added the teacher, “Vishnu threw the discus a bit too late, and Rahu's head—not his body—was immortal because of the amitra he drank.  Surya, Chandra and the other gods watched in amusement as Rahu's head hopped and rolled around on the ground screaming in anger.  He vowed to take revenge."

"What did he say he was going to do?" asked Ty.

But before Mr. Mahajan could answer, Mrs. Davis, their permanent teacher, informed the class that it was time go outside for the eclipse.  The boys didn’t know what to do.  They wanted to see the eclipse, but they also wanted to hear the rest of the story.  Reluctantly, they got in line and walked outside with their class.  Luckily, Mr. Mahajan had something better planned.  As the four brothers put on their viewing glasses, they saw what they did not expect—the head of Rahu bouncing around and yelling in anger.  "I'll teach you to betray me!"  Rahu said.  Then he bounced into the air and started flying across the sky.  Closing in on the sun, he opened his mouth, and swallowed it.  The boys watched in amazement as the bright light of the sun disappeared and all about them became increasingly black.  Then, little by little, the sun began to reappear at the base of Rahu's decapitated head, coming out where his throat used to be.  Furiously, he screamed:  " I am not through with you yet, Surya.  I’ll be back.  And next time, I will devour you forever." 

The boys removed their glasses, and looked in awe at their Indian teacher and friend.  They had been blessed with yet another awesome, mystical experience.  The epic creations of a wonderful mind were the gift of a never to be forgotten school year.

THE END