AD ASTRS PER ASPERA

A TRIP TO BENITAL IN UTTARAKHAND DOES NOT GO AS PLANNED, BUT THERE ARE REWARDS NONETHELESS

- SHASHWAT TYAGI

CARL SAGAN ONCE SAID HUMANS are like butterflies; they flutter for a day and think it's a lifetime.

The space-time continuum collapsed in the two days I spent at the Benital AstroCamp-my Miller's planet from "Interstellar"-where my wristwatch and the clock at home no longer synchronised.

Time doesn't feel quite the same once you've attended the mourning of a Nebula under the sky, laid prostrate under an ocean of stars in a valley flanked by the Himalayas, contemplating the finitude of our existence.

Inclement weather threatened to disrupt expectations from the trip, and yet, through difficulties, I was the man who reached the stars.

My trip to Benital in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district was organised by Starscapes Experiences, an astrotourism company founded by amateur astronomers Ramashish Ray and Paul Savio. "Some of these galaxies are 30 to 100 million light years away from us. That's the time it has taken for this light to reach your eyes," said Ray when we first met. "When you come on one of our trips, all you need is curiosity; we provide you with state-of-the-art telescopes and astro-modified cameras for a glimpse into another magical dimension."

Ray's interest in the cosmos started as a hobby, a niche interest in dark sky preservation, which he wanted to share with city folks, blinded by bright lights and digital devices ablaze with blue light. Astronomy tours, stargazing in observatories, astrophotography, workshops on astrophysics and space exploration are organised by Starscapes.

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