The hobby begins!

Astronomy is a great hobby. It’s a great way to relax and unwind. My fascination with the night sky began when I read an astronomy article in a biweekly, ‘Eureka’, published by ‘Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad’ a Science Movement of Kerala, India. I was in the 9th standard. The article was about the constellation Scorpio. The idea of finding out constellations in the night sky excited me. I read the article again and again and studied the asterism well. And then one clear night I ventured out to see Scorpio. I came to the backyard and looked up. Stars were twinkling through the trees. As I had no idea of how big the constellation would be and so many trees were blocking the view, I couldn’t find out Scorpio. There were no open areas anywhere near my house. So I couldn’t find any of the constellations for a long time. But I would come every night and just gawk at the stars. Then one day I was going on a church picnic. It was midnight. Everybody in the bus was asleep. The bus was crossing a paddy field. I opened the window and looked up. Wow! Up in the sky, the giant Scorpio in its full glory!