Night stolen by light

This is something ’90s kids from smaller cities would remember: Lying on the terrace during power cuts, staring at the night sky, counting stars, tracing constellations, and marvellingat that hazy band of white light, the Milky Way.

- KUMAR ABISHEK

That view has vanished from Indian cities, evenaftera cleansing evening rain. The culprit: Light pollution.

As cities battle filthy rivers and toxic air, with cloud seeding now the latest half-measure, few mention another pollutant — the constant glow that is erasing the stars. We have flooded our nights with brightness so thoroughly that we have forgotten what darkness feels like.

‘There is something tragic about how our love of light has become overexposure. What began asa victory over fearand darkness hasturnedintoa kind ofplanetary insomnia. The skies above cities never truly darken; they linger in a tired amber haze. Streetlights, billboards and glass towers spill photons skywards, bleaching the heavens that once kept ourtime.

Worse, we have learned to celebrate it. Satellite images of glittering cities are passed around on social media as postcards of progress. India’s nighttime glow has become astaple in growth story decks, every halo read as proof of prosperity.